The following form is intended for
illustrative purposes only. You and your attorney can use this sample as a
guide in drafting a prenuptial agreement that best protects your interests and
complies with the laws in effect where you live.
___________________________________,
Here in after referred to as Prospective Husband, and
___________________________, Here in after referred to as Prospective Wife,
hereby agree on this _____ day of ________________, in the year ______, as
follows:
Prospective Husband and Prospective Wife
contemplate marriage in the near future and wish to establish their respective
rights and responsibilities regarding each other's income and property and the
income and property that may be acquired, either separately or together, during
the marriage.
Prospective Husband and Prospective Wife
have made a full and complete disclosure to each other of all of their
financial assets and liabilities, as more fully set forth in the accompanying
Financial Statements, attached hereto as Exhibits A and B.
Except as otherwise provided below,
Prospective Husband and Prospective Wife waive the following rights:
To share in each other's estates upon their
death or separation/divorce without a prenup, state law will specify how your
property will be divided if you ever divorce. These laws may dictate a result
that neither of you wants. You can use a prenup to establish your own rules for
property division and avoid potential disagreements in the event of a divorce.
In most states, you can also make agreements about whether or not one or both
of you will be entitled to alimony.
To spousal maintenance, both temporary
and permanent.
To share in the increase in value during
the marriage of the separate property of the parties.
i.
Whether to file joint or separate income tax
returns or to allocate income and tax deductions on separate tax returns
ii.
Who will pay the household bills - and how?
iii.
Whether to have joint bank accounts and, if
so, how you will manage them
iv.
Agreements about specific purchases or
projects, such as buying a house together or starting up a business.
v.
How you will handle credit card charges --
for instance, whether you will use different cards for different types of
purchases, what kinds of records you will keep, and how you will make payments
vi.
Agreements to set aside money for savings
vii.
Agreements for putting each other through
college or professional school
viii.
Whether you will provide for a surviving
spouse -- for example, in your estate plan or with life insurance coverage, and
ix.
How to settle any future disagreements -- for
example, you might agree to hire either a mediator or a private arbitrator
x.
Use of last names after you marry
xi.
agreements about having and raising children,
such as birth control, having children, children's names, child care
responsibilities, and education
xii.
How you will relate to in-laws or
stepchildren of previous marriage.
To share in the pension, profit sharing,
or other retirement accounts of the other.
To the division of the separate property
of the parties, whether currently held or hereafter acquired.
To any claims based on the period of
cohabitation of the parties.
[SET FORTH RELEVANT EXCEPTIONS HERE.]
[ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS HERE. These can
range from prescribing that the children will be raised in a particular
religion to allocating household chores between the parties.] A prenup is
helpful (perhaps essential) if either of you has children from another relationship
and you want to make sure that your children inherit their share of your
property. In a prenup, one or both spouses can give up the right to claim a
share of the other's property at death, perhaps in exchange for an agreed upon
amount of property.
Both Prospective Husband and Prospective
Wife are represented by separate and independent legal counsel of their own
choosing.
Both Prospective Husband and Prospective
Wife have separate income and assets to independently provide for their own
respective financial needs.
If your property includes something you
want to keep in your birth family, whether it is an heirloom or a share in a
family business, you and your spouse can agree that it will remain in your
family, and you can specify that item in your prenup. This can even include
property that you expect to receive in a future inheritance.
This agreement constitutes the entire
agreement of the parties and may be modified only in a writing executed by both
Prospective Husband and Prospective Wife.
In the event it is determined that a
provision of this agreement is invalid because it is contrary to applicable
law, that provision is deemed separable from the rest of the agreement, such
that the remainder of the agreement remains valid and enforceable.
This agreement is made in accordance
with the laws of the state of __________, and any dispute regarding its
enforcement will be resolved by reference to the laws of that state.
This agreement will take effect
immediately upon the solemnization of the parties' marriage.
I HAVE READ THE ABOVE AGREEMENT, I HAVE
TAKEN TIME TO CONSIDER ITS IMPLICATIONS, I FULLY UNDERSTAND ITS CONTENTS, I
AGREE TO ITS TERMS, AND I VOLUNTARILY SUBMIT TO ITS EXECUTION.
______________________________
Prospective Husband
______________________________
Prospective Wife
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