A prenuptial agreement can make a divorce much easier. Essentially, you make many of the decisions that would have to be made in a divorce — the financial ones, at least — in advance. This makes the actual divorce go quickly and allows you to protect some of your assets if you were worried about losing them.
However, if you’re thinking about using a prenup, don’t put it off. Don’t wait until your wedding day gets close. As soon as you make that decision, get the prenup in writing and get it filed. This is critical.
Why is it so important? One reason a prenup can be invalidated is when the other person claims that they had “no time for consideration.” If your wedding is the next day and you give your spouse a prenup to sign, he or she only has a night to think it over. It’s just not enough time for such a big decision. Ideally, you would like to get the prenup filed months before the big day.
A lack of time can also be considered an example of duress. For instance, maybe your spouse’s entire family was in town for the wedding. You gave them a prenup that they didn’t want to sign. If they didn’t, though, the wedding would be canceled or delayed. That could cost them a lot of money — not everything is refundable with a wedding — and it would be embarrassing. If they signed because of that potential cost and embarrassment, they can later say they were unfairly pressured into signing.
Again, you can avoid this just by doing the whole thing in advance. Be sure you know how to work through the legal process smoothly so that the agreement holds up.
