Philadelphia Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreement Attorney

In the past people believed that Prenuptial Agreements were only for wealthy individuals, however, prenuptial agreements (which are also known simply as Prenups) are used quite extensively.

A prenuptial agreement is a contract between two individuals before they are married. These contracts address the property rights of the former spouses after divorce or death. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that there are two requirements for a valid prenuptial contract:

1. The usual rules of contract law about invalidating contracts for fraud, misrepresentation, or duress

2. “a full and fair disclosure of the financial positions of the parties is required.” The court justified this required disclosure because the parties “do not quite deal at arm’s length”, but instead “stand in a relation of mutual confidence and trust.”

Most commonly, prenuptial agreements are signed when:

• One of the parties is significantly wealthier than the other, and they want to protect some or all of their wealth in the event that the two should ever divorce.

• If one or both of the parties own a business or they are involved in a family business and wants to protect the business, and subsequently, the other family members that are involved in that business from potential future spousal claims.

• One or both of the parties have a child or children from a prior marriage or relationship and they wish to pass certain property to such children upon their death.

If a couple is married and they do not have a prenuptial agreement, then they if they divorce Pennsylvania state laws will govern how their property that was acquired during the marriage will be divided.