Prenuptial Agreements and Family Law

Vocabulary terms and definitions regarding the legal requirements, contents, and challenges of prenuptial agreements under New York Law.

Prenuptial agreement

A contract between future spouses entered into before marriage to disclose assets and set forth rights and responsibilities during the marriage, divorce, or death.

Separate property

The property and assets an individual brings to a marriage that remain their sole property as long as they are kept separate from joint assets.

Marital property

Property that is divided between spouses in a divorce, which can include joint assets or separate property specifically identified as marital in an agreement.

Maintenance

Financial support established in a prenuptial agreement for a spouse during or after a divorce, especially if one spouse left a career to raise children.

Pre-marriage debt

Substantial financial obligations brought into a marriage by one spouse that a prenuptial agreement can state remains with that individual.

Best interests of a child

The legal standard used by New York law to determine child support and custody arrangements, which cannot be definitively addressed in a prenuptial agreement for unborn children.

Fraud

A reason for a court not to enforce a prenuptial agreement, occurring if a spouse fails to disclose or hides assets honestly.

Coercion/Duress

The use of pressure to sign a prenuptial agreement or not allowing a spouse enough time to consider it, potentially rendering the agreement unenforceable.

Unfair and Inequitable

A condition where a prenuptial agreement favors one spouse so unfairly, such as leaving the other with nothing, that a court may refuse to enforce it.

Joint account

An account where both spouses deposit cash, making those funds likely to be considered marital property regardless of their origin.

Support for children of a prior marriage

Provisions in a prenuptial agreement to ensure financial care for minor children from a previous relationship who are not adopted by the current spouse.

Inheritance

Funds received that are legally considered separate property as long as they are held in the recipient's sole name.