Marriage contracts are quite common among wealthy individuals, especially in “community property” states, where matrimonial property is divided in the middle after the dissolution of a marriage. They are also used in situations where one party wants to protect a family business, avoid taking over the other party`s debts, or clarify financial responsibilities during the marriage. When a couple decides to get married, they inevitably agree to share their property. These assets (property, bank accounts, debts, etc.) are divided in the event of divorce, either a 50/50 or “equitable” division (depending on your state`s matrimonial property laws). But in many states, couples also have the option of entering into agreements that set certain parameters for the division of property (among other things) in case the marriage ends. A post-marital contract is also known as a “post-marital contract” or “post-up”. Courts in some states, such as New Jersey, have ruled that a post-nup must be “fair and equitable” for both spouses, both at the time of signing the agreement and at the time of divorce. But other states, including New York, require that a post-nup not be “unscrupulous.” In these states, simple injustice is not justified solely by the repeal of a post-nup. “Since this is a contract between spouses, it is expected that good faith and fair treatment will be respected,” says Tom Kretchmar. Indeed, the spouses have a fiduciary duty to each other.
“But that certainly doesn`t mean you can`t get into a post-nup that`s more favorable to one of the spouses or, to be honest, much cheaper for one spouse than the other.” In the 1970s, as more and more couples began to divorce and more states passed divorce laws “through no fault of their own,” post-marital agreements became more common and continued to be enforced. If you start noticing habits that you fear will jeopardize your assets in the future,. B for example when your spouse starts to go into debt or develop a gambling addiction, you can initiate a prenuptial agreement to protect yourself later. You can also create a post-marital contract if your financial assets change significantly. B for example when you start a new business that takes off. If you and your spouse have a child, this could also be a reason to reconsider the idea of a post-marital contract. Failure to disclose property, lack of scruples, presence of coercion or coercion, and any wrongdoing in the way the agreement was formed (legally called “overshooting”) can all void a post-marital contract. But there is so much jurisprudence on post-nups in New York, Kretchmar says, that the norms of “coercion” and “coercion” are difficult to meet. It is also rare to prove that it is exaggerated.
“There are crazy cases where it literally means that someone has switched sides in a deal,” Kretchmar says. “But it`s not trivial.” However, marriage and post-marriage contracts generally do not contain provisions on the maintenance and custody of children. One. Prenuptial agreements are enforceable, but one of the spouses could challenge them for cause. Some of the reasons why a judge might disregard a marriage contract include fraud, coercion, injustice in its terms, and injustice because one of the spouses was not represented by a lawyer when the contract was drafted and executed. Family law lawyers say more and more couples are learning about postnuptial arrangements — private contracts between spouses that, like their better-known cousin`s prenuptial agreements, can determine the division of a couple`s money and assets during a divorce or after a spouse`s death. While prenupial agreements are signed in the optimistic and hopeful light of commitment, post-nups have a reputation for being transactional agreements, and they are often associated with infidelity or other marital turbulence. But lawyers and some people who have post-nups say that agreements can serve couples with special needs well.
They can clarify issues that lead to conflict and help each spouse retain ownership of important assets such as a family business. Sometimes they can even help keep a problematic marriage together, or – if that`s what it is – simplify and shorten the divorce process. Like any legal contract, there are certain things that a marriage contract must have to be binding: one of the other differences is that in marriage contracts, each person must have their own lawyer who is separated from their partner. On the other hand, in most states, it is accepted that the couple hires a lawyer to conclude the agreement together. However, this could lead to a more in-depth examination of the prenuptial agreement, as the court may consider whether the agreement, and therefore everything in it, is in the interests of both parties […].