Prenuptial agreements have some basic requirements that one wants to make sure are met prior to signing the prenuptial agreement. A common question with prenuptial agreements is what needs to be done to make sure that the prenup is rock solid going into the future? One needs to make sure that it’s done right. The number one thing that one needs to keep in mind whenever thinking about drafting a prenuptial agreement, is if it’s prepared by an attorney. In addition to being prepared by an attorney, also both sides have the chance to have their attorney look at the agreement. It’s important to do this.
If one involves those things in a prenuptial agreement, West Virginia law will consider the prenup to be what we call presumptively valid. That means that in the future, if somebody wants to challenge the prenuptial agreement, but both people have had an attorney either drafted or looked over it, then it’s going to be considered to be valid and hard to be challenged. If this is going to be challenged, they have the burden to go ahead and challenge it in court and the burden is on them in the event that both parties have had an attorney involved in the process. Now, the prenup doesn’t necessarily have to be super in depth, but at a minimum an attorney should go over it and just explain the agreement.
Even if it’s in a very clear language, it’s important to be able to meet this legal requirement. Another thing that needs to be involved in regards to the prenuptial agreement is making sure the prenup is presented within a reasonable amount of time prior to the marriage taking place. That’s another thing that can make it very helpful in terms of a prenuptial agreement being considered to be valid. One of the arguments that can be made oftentimes is that forcing someone to rush to sign it is that it could be construed to be as someone signed it under duress. It’s really important that the prenuptial agreement is going to be presented and signed in enough time prior to the marriage. This way it gives both sides a reasonable chance to look at it.
One major thing to make sure included in the prenuptial agreement is a disclosure of assets. This involves making a list of whatever their assets are, whatever their debts are. The idea behind this and the law is that everybody should have a full awareness of the financial circumstances of the other person prior to signing an agreement. A full and complete disclosure of assets and debts is crucial. The major points to keep in mind is that the agreement is reviewed by an attorney by both sides, includes a full disclosure of assets and it’s also presented and signed within a reasonable amount of time prior to entering into the marriage.
