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Invalid Provisions In a Premarital Agreement

Premarital agreements are governed by state law. Therefore, the law of the state in which the spouses reside determines what may and may not be included in a premarital agreement. While the law varies by state, there are a few generally applicable rules regarding what spouses may not agree to in a premarital agreement.

Disability Planning

An elder individual should consider disability planning when planning their estate. There are numerous tools that are available to the elder individual with respect to disability planning.

Misuse of Adoption Affecting Economic Rights

Courts generally prohibit parties from using the adoption process to achieve purposes that would have a detrimental economic effect on the children involved. An attempt by a birth parent to adopt his or her own children for the purpose of terminating the other birth parent's relationship with the children is a misuse of adoption. Also, an agreement to release birth parents from support obligations in exchange for their consent to an adoption is a misuse of adoption.

Divorce and Dividing a Business

In many marriages, spouses have run a business together. The family-owned business constitutes a marital asset. It probably constitutes a large, if not one of the largest marital assets. It would not be practical to require the parties to run the business together. Typically, one party would continue to business and the interest of the other party is bought out. The business would be appraised and that amount is given to the party that was bought out.

Marital vs Separate Property

There are two distinctions with respect to property and property division in divorce proceedings. The distinction involves which type of property the property constitutes for purposes of division.