If you have a prenuptial agreement and you’re getting divorced, odds are that you’ve already considered how it’s going to help you. Maybe it will help to protect some of your assets. Maybe you like the security of knowing that financial decisions have already been made. You certainly believe that this agreement is going to guide your divorce process.
But there’s one way in which problems can arise. If you have included terms in your prenup that are illegal to add, it can invalidate that agreement. Some of the provisions within the agreement may not stand, or the court may even decide to simply throw the prenup out entirely. As such, it’s important to know what you can’t put in a prenup so that you understand if it’s actually going to help you during your divorce. Here are a few examples of subjects that can’t generally be addressed in a prenup.
Child custody matters
You can’t include child custody terms in your prenup. As you and your spouse split up, you may want to have sole custody of your kids. But even if your spouse agreed to that in the prenup, it could be a violation of your child’s rights. The court is still going to make the decision they think it’s in the child’s best interests, no matter what the prenup says.
Statements that encourage a divorce
Additionally, there can be provisions that would incentivize a spouse to get a divorce or encourage them to move in that direction. A prenup isn’t supposed to be used to cause a divorce or make it more likely. It is simply supposed to help guide the process of dividing financial assets by agreeing to certain types of division in advance. As such, these provisions will be rejected by the court and may invalidate the agreement.
Moving forward
If you and your spouse are moving closer to a divorce, prenups are only one thing that you’ll need to consider. This can certainly be a complicated process. Take the time to carefully look into all of the legal steps that will be necessary and the rights that you have. Seeking legal guidance is usually a good place to start.