Signing a prenuptial agreement can be helpful in many ways. If you and your new spouse eventually do get divorced, you will likely have used the prenup to make many financial decisions. It could protect your business, your inheritance or other assets that you’re bringing to the marriage, and it could help to define how marital assets should be split up in the event of a divorce.
However, if you’re counting on this type of financial protection during the divorce case, it’s important to ensure that your prenup is really valid. Why would it be invalid and set aside by the court?
Your spouse never read the documentation
One issue that sometimes arises is when a person signed the prenup without actually reading it. For example, maybe you asked your spouse for a prenup the day before the wedding. They never had any time to read it and consider it carefully, but just signed it so that the wedding wouldn’t be called off.
They were manipulated
Additionally, a person can’t be tricked or coerced into signing a prenuptial agreement. If they didn’t know what document they were signing, or if it was fraudulently misrepresented to them, it may not stand in court.
They lacked the mental capacity
Finally, in some cases, a person will claim that they lacked the mental capacity to sign the prenup to begin with. Maybe they were dealing with various illnesses or mental issues. Perhaps they had been drinking alcohol or using drugs. All of this could impact the validity of their signature.
These issues can lead to some very complex legal disputes, so be sure you know what options you have.
