Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
The marriage of two individuals comes with significant legal ramifications. The purpose of having a prenuptial agreement is to address some of the major financial issues that a client may encounter as a married couple prior to and after marriage. A prenuptial agreement is a detailed, written agreement describing all the terms and conditions of individually and jointly owned assets and how those assets will be distributed in life, divorce, or death. By placing the client’s wishes in writing, this will ensure that the client’s wishes and desires are met in a manner that may vary from the statutory law.
Our prenuptial and postnuptial agreement services include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Preparation of prenuptial agreements
- Preparation of postnuptial agreements
- Negotiation with opposing counsel
Parties wishing to proceed with a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement should take specific note of the following:
- Independent legal counsel is required for both parties. One attorney cannot adequately and ethically represent both parties in the preparation of a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.
- Sufficient time prior to the marriage or signature of a postnuptial agreement should be given to both parties and their counsel in order to review the agreement in complete detail. Under ideal circumstances, a prenuptial agreement would be signed at least thirty days prior to the wedding. The closer the agreement is signed to the wedding date, the stronger the argument of duress becomes should the agreement be challenged later (meaning that the party was essentially forced to sign the agreement even though they did not want to do so rather than voluntarily signing the agreement).
- Detailed and thorough lists of all assets with proper valuations must be disclosed by each party prior to signing the agreement.