A premarital agreement, when created legally, stands up in court very well. There are situations when a prenuptial agreement can become invalid, though. Here are five of the most common reasons and ways to avoid them.
First, if you have no written agreement, then the agreement is not enforceable. You must have a premarital agreement in writing to be able to enforce it in a court.
Next, if you can show that you were pressured when the premarital agreement was signed, you may be able to get out of that premarital agreement and have it thrown out in court. If you’re on the other end of this accusation, you can avoid having your prenup invalidated by showing that you gave the other party plenty of time to think over and review the agreement.
A prenuptial agreement may not be valid if there was not enough time for consideration. To avoid this causing the prenuptial agreement to be invalidated, make sure you and your spouse have plenty of time to review the document before getting married. A day or two is not going to be significant enough. Consider leaving a month or two before the wedding to review the documents.
False information can lead to a premarital agreement being invalidated as well. Make sure that anything that you disclosed in the documents is accurate. Don’t forget to put something in, like a special account or a large amount of assets, since that would make it appear like you were hiding assets.
Finally, it’s important to have two different attorneys review the prenuptial agreement. Often, it is required by law that you have your own independent counsel before you sign. If you have the same attorney, it could be argued that the attorney was working for the benefit of one or the other party, which invalidates the agreement. Our site has more information on how to know if your prenuptial agreement will stand up during divorce.
