Orange County Prenuptial Agreement Attorney

Mission Viejo Premarital Agreements

A premarital agreement or prenuptial agreement is a contract that a couple enters into before becoming married. It is designed to provide terms as to support, division of assets and other issues in the case of divorce. If you have substantial assets, then a prenuptial agreement would help you to keep those assets in the case of divorce and prevent division of them. If your fiancé has significant debt, then a pre-marital agreement could prevent you from incurring some of this debt load through property division in the case of divorce.

Another issue that a prenuptial agreement can take care of is keeping inheritances whole. If you want to keep property in your birth family, and/or you have children from a previous marriage, you can make that property separate property that will stay in your family and be passed down to your children. Prenuptial agreements can even detail financial responsibilities for the marriage.

What Makes a Prenuptial Agreement Valid?

Each state has its own requirements to fulfill the validity of a prenuptial agreement, and California is no different. If you fail to fulfill any of California's requirements it can result in a written agreement that is non-enforceable.

To enforce validity you must include:

• Having a contract that is written, not oral
• Each party must sign the contract voluntarily
• All terms of the agreement must be fair for both sides
• A prenup is only valid upon marriage

Keep in mind, the terms of your prenup can be modified after the wedding if both spouses agree. You may require the services of an attorney if the issues become complex.

What You Cannot Include in a Prenup

There are many different issues that can be addressed and provided for in a prenuptial agreement; however, in California any issues related to children are prohibited from being determined in pre-marital agreements. A prenuptial agreement cannot address nonfinancial issues, such as creating a parenting plan. If you are seeking to obtain custody in the case of divorce, it will be impossible to do this through a prenuptial agreement. The same applies for visitation rights; however, there are certain measures taken to provide for spousal support in a prenuptial agreement so you will not be left without assets and provision in the case of divorce.