Prenuptial Agreement Don’ts There are a number of misconceptions as to what can and cannot be added to a prenuptial agreement and the enforceability of such agreements in court. To better educate the general public on what not to add to a prenuptial agreement, a spokesperson and attorney from Busby & Associates gave comments on the subject. There are some aspects that are not covered by a prenuptial agreement; these cannot or should not be added to one’s prenuptial agreement. The Busby & Associates attorney noted that, “some aspects which cannot or should not be included in a prenup are determined by state laws and thus there is need for parties to approach an experienced attorney to give them advice as to what to include. This is mainly because where a prenup includes aspects which are against state-defined public policy, the whole prenup agreement can be rendered unenforceable or invalid in the courts; which can jeopardize well set out decisions governing the parties in the event of a divorce”. There are some aspects that cannot be added to the prenuptial agreement, what are some of these and why are they not applicable? The attorney responded that, “one of the most common items you cannot set out in your prenup is the restriction of child support, child custody and child visitations – the main reason is because each state looks at child welfare as a public policy issue and not a private agreement between parents. Further, no state will uphold or validate an agreement which limits or gives up a child’s future rights to support, custody and visitation by one or both parents. All these elements are important to the wellbeing of child development and are important to nurturing the child. So this aspect will be set out by the court during a divorce and the focus will be on the best interests of the child and not the parents. Another aspect that must be kept out of any prenup is the issue of nonfinancial matters. While these are important issues for the couple in respect of setting ground rules for their marriage; they are not to be included in a prenup as they are not binding in court. Such issues as who is responsible for house chores – feeding the cat or dog, laundry etc. the use of last names during the marriage, agreements about having and raising children, birth control, child names, their education etc. how to relate to one’s in-laws or stepchildren, the issue of having pets and who is responsible for them – while all these are fundamental issues to a marriage they have no place in a prenup. By having such aspects added to your prenup this could make the judge take the whole prenup less seriously. An idea for
documenting nonfinancial matters would be to make a separate document outlining one’s wishes�. For a court acceptable prenuptial agreement one can get cheap divorce lawyers in Houston to draft a valid document. About the company: Busby & Associates are a law firm of renowned attorneys who have many years of experience in divorce, family law and prenuptial and post nuptial agreements.
Contact Information: Address:
Busby & Associates 2909 Hillcroft Suit 350 Houston, Texas 77057
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1-800-DIVORCE ###