A pre-nuptial agreement is an agreement between a couple who intend to get married which determines financial obligations upon termination of the marriage. All marriages terminate either by divorce or by death. A pre-nuptial agreement should determine rights and obligations for both methods of termination. A pre-nuptial agreement must be fair at the time of creation and fair at the time of enforcement. Fairness at the time of creation means that both parties must make a full and fair disclosure of their income, assets, expenses, and liabilities. Fairness at the time of enforcement requires a fair distribution of income and assets at the time of termination. This doesn’t mean an equal distribution but one party can’t be left destitute. As parties can’t contract away children’s rights, a pre-nuptial agreement can’t determine child custody or support issues.
An experienced family law attorney can help avoid problems upon termination of the marriage.
