Prenuptial agreement

Couples enter into a written prenuptial agreement to supersede many of the default marital laws that would otherwise apply in the event of divorce, such as the laws that govern the division of property, retirement benefits, savings, and the right to seek alimony (spousal support) with agreed-upon terms that provide certainty and clarify their marital rights.

[3] In some countries, including the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the prenuptial agreement not only provides for what happens in the event of a divorce but also protects some property during the marriage, for instance in case of bankruptcy.

Many countries, including Canada, France, Italy, and Germany, have matrimonial regimes, in addition to, or in some cases, instead of prenuptial agreements.

[9][10] Pre and post-nuptial Agreements in Hong Kong can be of “magnetic importance” in deciding the parties’ claims for ancillary relief.

The prenuptial agreement also includes a list of each side's assets at the time of the marriage and guarantees, that debts and property before the marriage remain in possession of the initial owner or debtor.Personal property includes: (Mostly described at clause 1471 of the Commercial and Civil Code of Thailand): The joint property includes: Prenuptial agreements have long been recognized as valid in several European countries, such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.

In France, The Netherlands and Belgium (as in Quebec, which has the same judicial tradition) prenuptial agreements must be set up in the presence of a notary.

Numerous provisions of this section of the Family Code of Ukraine provide quite extensive requirements regarding the form and contents of the marriage contract and the procedural issues of making the same are regulated by appropriate Instruction of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine regarding the procedure of notarization of marriage contracts as well as far as notarization is required.

Marriage contracts, which reduce the rights of children and put one of the spouses in a poor material state, are not permitted by the above imperative regulation.

Prenuptial agreements historically had not been considered legally enforceable in England and Wales due to a reluctance on the part of the judiciary for public policy reasons.

The 2010 Supreme Court test case of Radmacher v Granatino, overturned the previous legal framework on them to recognise changing societal and judicial views on the personal autonomy of married partners.

[13][14] Pre-nuptial agreements can now be enforced by the courts as part of their discretion in financial settlement cases under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 so long as the three-stage Radmacher test is met and it is considered fair to do so, keeping in mind the interests of any child of the family.

In contrast to the rest of the United Kingdom, prenuptial agreements are generally regarded as being legally enforceable in Scotland.

[18] However, since the ruling in Radmacher v Granatino, which also applied in Northern Ireland, the judiciary are more likely to hold parties to the terms of such agreements, unless doing so would be obviously unfair.

For instance, in Ontario, prenuptial agreements are called marriage contracts and they are recognized by section 52 of the Family Law Act.

Today, the presumptive validity and enforceability of such agreements in states that have adopted the UPAA/UPMAA including Florida,[25] Virginia,[26] New Jersey,[27] and California,[28] is no longer in question.

To validly waive the spousal rights that would ordinarily be available to a surviving spouse under Florida law (such as homestead, elective share, exempt property, family allowance, etc.

[31] That said, if the lack of disclosure results in a prenup being unconscionable (unfair to one spouse) under Florida's Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, it may not be enforceable on those grounds.

[32] Even in states that have not enacted the UPAA/UPMAA like New York, duly executed prenuptial agreements are accorded the same presumption of legality as any other contract.

In states that have adopted the UPAA (Uniform Premarital Agreement Act), no sunset provision is provided by statute, but one could be privately contracted for.

To financial issues ancillary to divorce, prenuptial agreements are routinely upheld and enforced by courts in virtually all states.

[46] Moreover, in Florida where the inheritance (elective share) and homestead rights granted to surviving spouses by state law are so strong, its Premarital Agreement Act requires that a waiver of surviving spouse rights outlined in a prenuptial agreement be executed with the same formality as a will to be enforceable (notarized and witnessed by two disinterested parties).

The Retirement Equity Act (REA) of 1984, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on August 23, 1984, reconciled confusion over whether ERISA preempted state divorce laws, thereby preventing pension plans from complying with court orders giving a spouse a portion of the worker's pension in a divorce decree.

[48] A prenuptial agreement can contain waivers by which each spouse agrees to release any claims against each other's retirement benefits that arise under both state and federal laws by the marriage, like under the REA.

As such, any waiver of alimony in their prenuptial agreement must be drafted in a way that does not violate the contract that the U.S. sponsor makes with the government by providing the Affidavit of Support, or it will be at risk of being declared unenforceable.

In Title 20 - Domestic Relations, CHAPTER 1, Marriage, ARTICLE 1, General Provisions, of the South Carolina Code of Laws, it covers the definitions and enforcement of prenuptial agreements.

God calls man and woman to be united – to live in one, to share freely, to trust and to honor and to love each other in every way.

The whole psychology of pre-marital arrangements encourages each spouse to consider himself separated from the other, to be suspicious of the other and to cling firmly to "who is yours" and to preserve him from the other...It's the opposite of unity[59]In Judaism, the ketubah, a prenuptial contract, has long been established as an integral part of the Jewish marriage and is signed and read aloud at the marriage ceremony.

In such matters, the local authorities are unable to intervene, both out of concerns regarding the separation of church and state and because certain halakhic problems would arise.

To remedy this situation, the movement promotes a prenuptial agreement in which the couple agrees to conduct their divorce, should it occur, in a rabbinical court.

A Muslim woman may lay down certain conditions in the taqliq (prenuptial agreement) before signing the marriage certificate to safeguard her welfare and rights, the man may do the same.