What Can Be in a Prenup?

The range of what can be in a prenuptial agreement is flexible and can accommodate most of your goals and concerns. A prenuptial agreement can address:

  - How property is to be considered - community or individual property

  - Residence ownership

  - Responsibility for premarital debts

  - Property distribution upon death (also need to be reflected in your estate planning documents)

  - Property division upon divorce

  - Alimony/ obligations in most states (a caveat here - a court is allowed to invalidate alimony
  provisions if the judge believes them to be unjust, e.g. no or little alimony being paid in a a long
  term marriage if there is a great disparity between spouses’ incomes)

   - Financial responsibilities during the marriage

  - Which state’s law will govern the prenup (otherwise it will be the state of the death or divorce)

  - How disputes about the prenup are to be resolved

  - Sunset clause – sometimes couples decide that their prenuptial agreement will no longer be
  valid if they are married for a certain number of years.

There are a number of limitations to prenuptial agreements. Prenuptial agreements can't address the following:

  - Anything thought to encourage divorce

  - Parenting Agreement (traditionally called child custody, which includes things such as
  religious, educational, and medical decisions for children.),

  - Parenting time (traditionally called visitation with the children),

  - Child support,

  - Anything “illegal” (as with most contracts),

  - Anything “unconscionable” (unfair), for example no alimony in a long term marriage when
  there is great income disparity,

And, if you want to deal with certain aspects of married life, like the division of household responsibilities, it is better to put these in a separate agreement so you avoid the chance that such provisions might invalidate the rest of your prenup.