Prenuptial agreements give couples a chance to make decisions in advance that would ordinarily just be made during a divorce. For example, they can use the prenup to split up financial assets or define which assets need to go through property division and which ones will simply be kept by the person who owns them. Wealthy individuals will sometimes use prenups to protect their businesses or significant financial assets that they don’t want to risk by getting married.
However, there are mistakes that could make a prenuptial agreement invalid. If this happens, the court may decide to throw out the entire agreement, so all of those protections will be lost. Below are a few examples of how this could happen.
The other person didn’t know what they were signing
In some cases, a prenup is invalid when one person was unaware of what they were signing, perhaps because they never had time to read the agreement. It may also be invalid if they lacked the mental capacity to read and understand that agreement, such as if they had been drinking or using drugs.
They were pressured to sign
Both people must freely agree to sign the prenup, so any sort of dress or coercion could invalidate it. In fact, this is one reason why suggesting a prenup at the last moment is problematic. The other person wouldn’t have time to consider it and would feel pressured by the upcoming wedding.
Drafting your prenuptial agreement
You don’t want to count on a prenup without being sure that it was drafted correctly and that it will stand in court. Take the time to carefully consider all of the legal steps you will need to take to accomplish this goal.