What Constitutes a Prenuptial Agreement?

A prenuptial agreement (prenup for short) is one of the most delicate of agreements ever. Legally speaking it is a contract that could be signed between two people who are planning to marry or enter into a civil union. A prenuptial agreement is something that is signed beforehand to make the legal process easier (in case there is one after marriage) and usually deals with division of property and assets, and most importantly, spousal support.

Why is a Prenuptial Agreement important?

All marriages are planned to last, and the union seems inseparable in the beginning. But at times, the best of relationships have fallouts and in such cases it is essential to be prepared beforehand. In the day and age where anything agreed on verbally could be changed as per will, it is important to legalise a properly worded contract that would help speed up the legal processes if not totally eliminate the hassle.

The contents of a prenuptial agreement

A prenuptial agreement will discuss, at large, a few specific areas.

Spousal support – any prenuptial agreement that discusses the legal aspects of a marriage would actively include the clauses that specify spousal support. The agreement can detail who should offer the spousal support and how the money / assets should be handed over. The period of spousal support including the clauses that would negate it are also discussed at the time of writing the prenuptial agreement. This is usually done in the case where one partner is dependent on the other for money.

Division of assets and liabilities – a marriage is planned usually as a long term union, and while it is not evident directly, there are many times when the couple would jointly own assets, or sign up for mortgages and debts. A divorce should not, legally, necessarily entail that one partner suffers the backlash of an accumulating debt while the other goes scot free. Or that one person would get the benefits of the asset that was purchased jointly. A prenuptial agreement, even if it does not detail every individual assets, is worded clearly enough to make sure that the clauses added would cover any purchases made, or debts taken jointly. The clauses are worded in a way they cover future cases and existing property too.

Inheritance of property – a prenuptial is signed usually in the cases where there are chances for one or both of the members in the couple to inherit any kind of property or asset. A prenuptial agreement is usually signed well in advance so both the parties could be prepared with what they know and what they have during the marriage. Both of the parties should clearly state what they have and what they might inherit in the due course. Failure to do so might be challenged in court. Especially if the revelations had not been made before the prenuptial agreement is signed, the whole agreement can be challenged and the ruling will not be in favour of the defaulter. A financial statement with full disclosure is considered a necessity.

Popular law firms including Garfield Logan Law specialise in prenuptial agreements as part of their
marital agreements / settlements specialisations.