Is My Premarital Agreement Valid?

Are you currently planning to file for divorce, or are you aware that your spouse will soon be filing, and wondering if your existing premarital agreement will be upheld by the Florida divorce court? Creating a valid premarital agreement is essential if you want to ensure that its terms will be upheld in a future divorce proceeding. At the same time, you may be in a situation where you feel you were coerced into signing a premarital agreement years ago, and you may want to find out if it will be possible to have one of the terms, or the entire agreement, invalidated in your divorce.

Whether or not your premarital agreement will be considered valid and enforceable by a Florida court will depend on statutory factors set forth under Florida law, as well as the circumstances surrounding the original creation of the document. Our Port St. Lucie premarital agreement lawyers can explain in more detail below, and we can speak with you today if you have questions about enforceability.

What Makes a Premarital Agreement Enforceable (or Unenforceable)? 

Under Section 61.079 of the Florida Statutes, a premarital agreement — also known commonly as a prenuptial agreement — is not enforceable in certain circumstances. If the party to the agreement who is seeking to invalidate all or part of the agreement can show one of the following, then the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure say that the agreement is not enforceable:

• Party did not execute the agreement voluntarily;
• Agreement was the product of fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; or
• Agreement was unconscionable when it was executed because, prior to execution of the agreement, the following are true of the party who is seeking to have the agreement deemed unenforceable: 1) Party was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party, 2) Party did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, any right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party, and 3) Party did not have, or reasonably could not have had, an adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the other party.

The above language is cited from the Florida Statutes. Yet the Florida Statutes do not expressly define much of that language or the circumstances in which it applies. Accordingly, you should seek legal advice to determine whether issues of voluntariness, fraud, duress, coercion, overreaching, or unconscionability exist in the agreement and in relation to circumstances in which it was created.

Contact Our Port St. Lucie Family Law Attorneys for Assistance with Your Premarital Agreement and Its Enforcement in Your Divorce

Whether you have an existing premarital agreement that you want to ensure is enforceable, or you want to find out about invalidating all or part of the existing agreement, it is important to seek legal advice. Likewise, if you are not yet married and want to find out about creating a premarital agreement that will be valid and enforceable in the future, you should begin working with an attorney as soon as possible. One of the experienced Port St. Lucie premarital agreement attorneys at Baginski Brandt & Brandt can speak with you today about your family law needs and circumstances, and we can assist you with all legal matters pertaining to a premarital or postnuptial agreement. Contact us for additional information.

Source: 

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.079.html