Will Your Prenuptial Agreement Stand?

You and your spouse are getting divorced, but you’ve planned for it. When you got married, the two of you signed a prenuptial agreement. You knew that divorce could potentially happen and you wanted to consider the financial details first.

For example, maybe the prenuptial agreement simply states which assets are yours alone or how the family’s income is supposed to be divided. Maybe you’re a business owner and you want to use it to protect your company. One of the most important things to ask is if that prenuptial agreement is actually going to stand in court or not.

Why wouldn’t it?

One reason that a prenup doesn’t stand is that it hasn’t been drafted and filed correctly. So, if you’ve done that, it makes sense that you would assume that the document is going to work.

But there can be problems with it. For instance, if your ex signed it too close to the day of the wedding, the court may decide that they didn’t really have time to consider it or even read it. The court could throw out the prenup, despite it being signed by both parties.

The prenuptial agreement also can’t be drastically unfair in one person’s favor. Maybe your spouse agreed to give up all joint income and wealth in the event of a divorce, leaving them with nothing. The court is unlikely to enforce something that is so heavily weighted in one direction.

Furthermore, a prenuptial agreement may not stand if the person was manipulated, tricked or pressured into signing it.

Working through the process

With a lot of money on the line and complicated documents in place, working through this process can take time. It’s also very important for you to know exactly what legal steps to take.