Prenuptial Agreements: An Overview of Enforceability and Drafting

59 questions on prenuptial agreements, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are lifestyle and infidelity clauses enforceable?
• Can a prenup be changed or cancelled later?
• Can a prenup be used to defeat creditors?
• Can a prenup leave a spouse destitute?
• Does asking for a prenup mean you expect to divorce?
• Do prenups always favor the richer spouse?
• How did Posner v. Posner change the law on prenups contemplating divorce?
• How does a well-drafted prenup protect the artist's catalog?
• How does California treat spousal-support waivers specifically?
• How does community property differ from equitable distribution?
• How does separate property lose its character through commingling?
• How does the default regime change what a prenup must accomplish?
• How does the fiduciary duty between spouses heighten the overreaching inquiry?
• How do Pereira and Van Camp apportion business appreciation?
• How far before the wedding should a prenup be signed?
• How sharply do the states diverge on the fairness inquiry?
• In the worked example, what exposure does the recording artist face without a prenup?
• Is it true that prenups are only for the wealthy?
• What are the six pillars of prenup enforceability?
• What are the two grounds for non-enforcement under UPAA § 6(a)?
• What are the usual culprits that make a prenup unenforceable?
• What death-time rights can a prenup waive?
• What did Ansin v. Craven-Ansin establish about postnuptial agreements?
• What did In re Marriage of Bonds decide, and what did California do about it?
• What does California Family Code § 1615(c) now require?
• What does California's community-property presumption reach?
• What does the 2012 UPMAA change?
• What does the disclosure requirement demand, and can it be waived?
• What does the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act provide?
• What do the ALI Principles recommend beyond the uniform acts?
• What execution steps make an agreement bullet-proof?
• What is the difference between a prenuptial and a postnuptial agreement?
• What is the drafting and diligence checklist for a durable agreement?
• What is the least glamorous but most important point about prenup law?
• What is the limit of a prenup's debt-allocation clause?
• What is the real question about prenuptial agreements?
• What is transmutation, and why do community-property states make it hard?
• What is unconscionability in the prenup setting?
• What second force erodes a founder's control on divorce?
• What subjects can a prenup properly cover?
• What supplies the consideration for a prenup, and why does the writing requirement matter?
• When does a postnuptial agreement make sense?
• Which state-specific formalities are frequently dispositive?
• Which surrounding documents must be coordinated with the prenup?
• Which two federal IP features cannot be handled by the prenup alone?
• Who owns copyrights and royalties created during a marriage?
• Why are DIY prenups a leading cause of unenforceable prenups?
• Why are prenups especially important for founders and creators?
• Why can't a prenup control child custody or child support?
• Why can't a prenup waive ERISA retirement survivor rights?
• Why does a prenup carry extra weight in a community-property state?
• Why does every married couple already have a financial contract?
• Why do many states scrutinize postnups more skeptically than prenups?
• Why is a graduated support scale more durable than a flat zero?
• Why is disclosure trickier and more important for business and IP assets?
• Why is skipping independent counsel the most common false economy in the field?
• Why is timing the central evidence of voluntariness?
• Why is unconscionability alone not enough to void a UPAA agreement?
• Will a court honor a prenup's choice-of-law clause?