Challenges in Preparing the Prenuptial Agreement

Many attorneys, even those who do not regularly practice matrimonial or family law, may find themselves in a situation in which a client who is contemplating marriage asks for advice on the preparation of an antenuptial agreement. This happens, more often than not, when the client is wealthy, has been married and divorced previously, or both. While an antenuptial, or prenuptial, agreement may contain many of the elements of a separation or settlement agreement, it is, in many ways, a more complicated document. As with all agreements, clear and concise drafting is essential. The prenuptial agreement, however, requires additional delicacy and greater consciousness of the too oft ignored Standards Of Civility (22 NYCRR Part 1200). Although, typically, the "pre-nup" involves a marriage other than a first or a situation where one intended spouse is in a superior economic position than the other, in the litigious world in which we find ourselves today we see more and more parties of all kinds who want to define their rights and obligations in the event of divorce or separation -- or one of their parents wants them to.