Prenuptial Agreements

A Prenuptial Agreement is a contract entered into between two people who are planning to marry. The purpose of such a document is to set forth the couple’s agreement as to how their finances will be handled in the event of divorce, especially if there are children from a prior marriage or if one party has an interest in a family-owned business.

For a Prenuptial Agreement to be valid in Massachusetts, it must be signed by the parties before they marry.  Each party must have the opportunity to have an attorney represent his/her interests as the Agreement is drafted. Each party must fully and honestly disclose his/her assets and income to the other to avoid a claim at a later date that there was fraud when the Agreement was signed. Further, neither party should feel unduly pressured to enter into the Agreement which could later lead to a claim of duress and void the document.

If you and your partner are considering entering into a Prenuptial Agreement, do not wait until just prior to your wedding to do so as there is some thinking that if such an Agreement is signed right before a wedding, that in itself may be evidence that one party was under duress at the time. If one of you finds you want to enforce the Prenuptial Agreement at a later date, a court will take a close look at the document to make sure it is not unreasonable, that there was no fraud or duress when it was signed and to make certain there was full financial disclosure between you.