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<b><i>Practice Tip: </i></b>A Primer on Pre-nups

By Robert A. Epstein
December 31, 2014

The holidays are over and, in the world of family law, that can mean an influx of clients looking for an attorney to prepare or review a premarital agreement in advance of an upcoming June wedding. Drafting or reviewing premarital agreements can, however, be “risky business.”

For starters, your client usually has very little idea what s/he is looking for, other than that s/he typically wants to protect his or her premarital, inherited or gifted assets. S/he has a vague understanding from friends, family members or other lawyers that the law generally exempts such assets from equitable distribution, but has no idea what other protections a prenuptial agreement may afford to both him or her and the prospective spouse.

Next, since the validity or enforceability of a premarital agreement will likely only come into play upon the dissolution of the marriage, it can be years, if not decades (depending on the agreement's operative language, which may contain a so-called “sunset” provision that terminates the agreement during the marriage), before this becomes an issue. Only then does the clock start ticking for a client who may be looking to point his finger at you, as his lawyer, for what went wrong.

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