A prenuptial agreement can be helpful to spouses who later decide to get a divorce. While most people focus on the potential positives of such an agreement, however, spouses need to consider the potential disadvantages as well before they make the decision to draft and execute their prenups.
Here are several potential negatives of entering into a prenuptial agreement:
- Spouses need to be careful when carrying out the preliminary steps before creating a prenuptial agreement. If one spouse misreports his or her assets, for example, the entire prenup could be invalidated upon divorce when the spouse’s lack of forthrightness becomes apparent.
- Prenuptial agreements could be thrown out for the following reasons: fraud, unfairness, signing under duress, lack of legal representation or untimely signing of a prenup.
- Creating a prenup is not a very romantic thing to do and it could create difficulties between some couples before marriage, especially if one spouse sees the document as a sign of lack of trust.
- One spouse might resent the other spouse if he or she feels that the prenuptial agreement isn’t fair.
- Some feel that planning a prenuptial agreement is like “divorce planning.” Although having an action plan before divorce will make divorce easier and less costly, many spouses would rather plan for their marriage than consider such a possibility.
Have you thought about the “pros” and “cons” associated with signing a prenup before your marriage. Makes sure you fully understand what constitutes a valid prenup in California and all the potential setbacks before you decide whether this kind of agreement is right for you and your family.