Prenuptial, or premarital agreements, can be very difficult to draft, negotiate and implement. The most obvious problem is that prenuptial agreements are held to high legal review standards for voluntariness (you weren’t coerced into signing, even emotionally), and knowledge (you understood the legal effect of what you signed). So there are safeguards that have to be put in place to create an enforceable document.
Unfortunately, this process takes place between two individuals who are probably deeply in love and delighted about their upcoming nuptials. The bottom line is, the required t’s to cross and i’s to dot in the process of negotiating and drafting a prenuptial can have quite a dampening effect on the process of the marriage.
Further, prenuptials often require provisions that go into branching conditional alternatives–e.g, if this happens, then this rule applies, but if that occurs, then… There are some similarities to estate planning, in that you have to try to anticipate all of the things that could happen.
The result of this is that a seemingly simple list from a prenuptial client can spawn thirty-pages of prenuptial text, for reasons that may not be immediately apparent to the marrying couple. This can add further strain.
At Divorce Helpline, we have over twenty-years of experience in drafting prenuptial agreements. We strive to make the process as pain-free as possible, while at the same time creating a document that will protect your agreements if that ever becomes necessary. For details on prenuptial agreements check out our articles on common provisions, legal requirements, and what is enforceable.