A prenuptial agreement is one of the most important legal documents you can ever sign before tying the knot. Done right, a prenup allows you to define various financial terms before getting into the marriage. Better still, it can protect your assets and lay clear expectations in the event of a divorce.
However, there are lots of misconceptions regarding what you can and cannot include in the prenup. Including the following provisions in your prenup can render it invalid and, thus, non-enforceable:
1. Non-financial rules
Prenuptial agreements are specifically designed to separate personal property from the marital property during the divorce. As such, you cannot use the prenup to set rules or terms that are non-financial in nature.
For instance, you cannot use the prenup to define ground rules for your marriage such as the number of kids you will have, how you will raise them or how you will split household chores.
2. Illegal provisions
This should be straightforward. Your prenuptial agreement cannot invalidate or override existing laws. Also, the agreement cannot include provisions that require either party to engage in illegal activities.
Every term in your prenup must comply with local, state as well as federal laws and requirements.
3. Unfair or unreasonable provisions
This may be subjective, but if the court believes that certain provisions in the prenup agreement are inherently unfair towards one spouse, or somehow unreasonable, then it will likely invalidate part of or the entire document.
For instance, a provision that induces hardship to one party in the event of a divorce may be deemed unfair. Consequently, this may lead to the invalidation of the entire document.
A prenuptial agreement can give you peace of mind knowing that personal property will be protected in the event of a divorce. Find out how you can create a prenup that will safeguard your interests when the need arises.