FindLaw | Find a Lawyer. Find Answers.
Are you a legal Professional?
What You Can (and Can't) Do With a Prenuptial Agreement
Give up the right to alimony, in a few states. A handful of states similarly limit your ability to give up your right to alimony -- also called spousal support or separate maintenance -- if there is a divorce. Other states permit such waivers, so you will need to know what your state laws say if you are considering this kind of agreement. (You can find the law for your state in Nolo's book, Prenuptial Agreements: How to Write a Fair & Lasting Contract, by Katherine E. Stoner, Attorney-Mediator and Shae Irving, J.D.)
"Encourage" divorce. At one time, many courts viewed any prenup specifying how things would be divided up in case the couple splits as void and unenforceable because it promoted divorce. The modern approach allows such agreements, but judges in some states still take a hard look at them. If the agreement appears to offer a financial incentive for divorce to one party, it may be set aside.
Make rules about nonfinancial matters. For practical reasons, you should keep personal agreements out of your prenup. Here is a partial list of nonfinancial matters that sometimes find their way into prenups, but are better dealt with separately. Of course, the possible issues are endless and you may well think of many that aren't mentioned here:
- responsibility for household chores -- from laundry to cleaning to car care
- use of last names after you marry
- agreements about having and raising children, such as birth control, having children, children's names, child care responsibilities, and education
- how you will relate to in-laws or stepchildren, and
- whether you will have any pets and who will be responsible for them.
These kinds of nonmonetary agreements aren't binding in court, and in fact they could cause a judge to take your entire prenup less seriously. Rather than including personal matters in your prenup, you may find it helpful to simply make a list of your most important concerns and discuss them together. If you want to take it a step further, you can underscore your commitment by writing down your personal agreements in a separate document -- perhaps in a letter that each of you writes to the other, clarifying your intentions and wishes.
FAQs
- Must the parties to a premarital agreement be represented by lawyers?
- What is necessary to make a valid premarital agreement?
- May premarital agreements decide future issues of custody and child support?
- What does a spouse give up by signing a premarital agreement?
- Do premarital agreements need to provide for a certain amount of support?
Marriage Resources
Helpful tools and forms available for purchase.Fast, free & easy LegalConnection.
Download more than 50,000 state-specific legal forms. Real estate documents, power of attorney forms, wills, employment contracts, divorce and separation agreements and much more.
Fast and friendly legal document service from LegalZoom, the #1 online legal document service.