A law called the Uniform Pre-Marital Agreement Act
provides legal guidelines for people who wish to make
agreements prior to marriage regarding ownership, management
and control of property; property disposition on separation,
divorce and
death; alimony;
wills; and life insurance beneficiaries. In Orange County, California a
pre-marital or pre-nuptial agreement is defined under the
Uniform Premarital Agreement Act as “an agreement between
prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to
be effective upon marriage.”
You and your prospective spouse can make almost any
agreement that you want in a pre-nuptial agreement but you
need to remember that the court does have the power to set
these agreements aside if they are unfair in their terms or
how they were executed.
A pre-nuptial agreement may deal with a wide range of issues
including:
- The rights and obligations of each of the parties in
any of the property of either or both of them acquired
before the marriage (Separate
Property).
- The rights and obligations of each of the parties in
any of the property of either or both of them acquired
after the marriage (Community
Property).
- The disposition of property upon separation, divorce,
or death.
- The making of a will, trust, or other arrangement to
carry out the provisions of the agreement.
- The ownership rights in and disposition of the death
benefit from a life insurance policy.
There are a number of options to consider when
formulating a pre-nuptial agreement. An experienced Orange
County attorney
can provide advice that suggests the most advantageous
structure for your pre-nuptial agreement. One option to is
to prepare inventories of each party’s assets and
liabilities at the time of marriage and make provisions that
exclude all private assets from the marriage contract.
Separate provisions may be added that allow for the
separation of the growth of any of these assets or increases
in the value of property defined as separate. A pre-nuptial
agreement may also state that you will share in the common
expenses of living together but maintain completely separate
personal assets. In other words there will no shared or
community property that will be created as a result of the
marriage.
The "bottom line" is that the rules of property
division in the State of California are quite complex, but
the parities may agree as long as neither takes advantage of
or defrauds the other. The only way to avoid unpleasant
surprises when matters have reached the point of conflict
and difficulty (this can happen due to death, disability or
divorce) is to seek legal advice before the marriage.
Which ever way you decide to proceed on a pre-nuptial
agreement you will need the advice and guidance of an Orange
County lawyer
to ensure that the agreement is fair, filed properly, and
within the guidelines specified by the State of California.
If you have any questions about marital agreements in the
state of California, please contact our attorneys today.
Contact us online or call us
at 714-835-4444.
Related Information
Post-marital
Agreements (Post-nuptial)
Community
Property in California
Separate
Property Rights
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