A Pre-Marital Agreement ("pre-nup") allows individuals contemplating marriage to determine certain rights and/or obligations prior to the ceremony. A Pre-Marital Agreement allows for the advanced determination of what each party's rights and/or obligations will be concerning the property owned by either party prior to marriage, and what the rights and obligations concerning property obtained during the marriage will be in the event of the death of a party, or upon the separation and/or dissolution of marriage. A Pre-Marital Agreement allows the parties to determine any future support obligations between the parties and any other matter a couple chooses to include that would not be against public policy.
Pre-Marital Agreements will be upheld and enforced by a court in the event of a separation and/or dissolution of the marriage, provided that a party did not enter into the agreement involuntarily, or the agreement was unconscionable when it was executed. An agreement may be deemed unconscionable if a party was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property and financial obligations of the other party.
There are occasions that parties choose to enter into a Post-Martial Agreement ("post-nup") during their marriage to address the same or similar issues as in a Pre-Marital Agreement.
Pamela M. Pacetti
Attorney at Law
3919 Old Lee Highway, Suite 82-C
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
Telephone: 703-591-0056
Facsimile: 703-591-2443
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