Before they got married, many couples in the Sarasota area drafted a prenuptial agreement. A prenup is a way of protecting your financial future in case of a possible divorce in the future. They can be especially important for people who are getting married for a second or third time and have children of their own.
However, creating a prenup that will hold up in court takes more than sitting at the kitchen table with your future spouse and writing down who would keep what if your marriage ends someday. If you do not follow Florida’s laws regarding prenuptial agreements, when it comes time to submit it to the family court judge, they could refuse to accept it. Then you and your ex could have to start from scratch with property division.
Examples of invalid prenuptial agreements
Here are five examples of reasons a judge in South Florida might rule a prenup invalid:
- No written agreement. A verbal agreement with no written contract will not be accepted.
- Duress. The judge will disallow a prenup if one spouse shows that they were forced to sign it under duress.
- Improper execution. A preuptial agreement must have been signed by both parties before the wedding.
- Disallowed provisions. The law does not let you use a prenup for certain things, like determining child custody. When a prenup contains an invalid provision, the judge will likely toss that portion of the agreement and allow the rest.
- Termination. Spouses can agree to tear up a prenuptial agreement during the marriage. If one spouse later tries to file the prenup, the other spouse can show evidence of the termination.
A carefully prepared prenup can withstand virtually any challenge to its validity during divorce. If you and your fiancé(e) are interested in a prenup, each of you needs to be represented by your own family law attorney.
