Imagine you were married 30 years ago, and before you said, “I do,” your spouse popped a very awkward question: “Will you sign a prenuptial agreement?”
At the time, you were so in love – and your spouse was from such a wealthy family – that the request, allegedly prompted by your future spouse’s parents, seemed reasonable. You signed the dotted line and proceeded to have a beautiful marriage ceremony and never gave the legal document another thought.
Fast forward three decades and now you’re getting a divorce. You had completely forgotten about the prenuptial agreement until your husband reminded you, and now you want to know: “Is it even valid after all these years?”
Your prenuptial agreement might be too old and outdated for court to honor its terms. It’s dangerous to sign a prenuptial agreement, set it aside and never think about it again. These documents need to be revised, refreshed, updated and reaffirmed through a post-nuptial agreement on a regular basis. This is advised every five years, but at the very least, couples should re-affirm their agreements every 10 years. Failing to do so could cause a prenup to appear stale and outdated to the court. In fact, it’s not uncommon for state family courts to toss out an old, outdated prenup as legally invalid and no longer applicable.
If your divorce involves a prenuptial agreement, don’t assume that the document is valid. Family law judges will scrutinize the validity of your prenuptial agreement and – if the right circumstances are present – the judge could invalidate the prenup and refuse to honor its terms in court.
