Premarital agreements are an increasingly popular way for parties entering marriage to decide in advance what their financial rights and obligations will be when the marriage ends at death or dissolution. They are no longer only for older couples and wealthy people. Young couples entering into first marriages are getting them. Same-sex couples need them. Many persons who have been divorced seek a premarital agreement before taking another chance on marriage to protect what they have left.

A well-drafted premarital agreement that adheres to the highest standards for validity should reduce the transactional costs of divorce. Still, dissatisfied spouses continue to challenge validity, and poor drafting can breed a host of disputes about the parties’ rights and obligations when they land in divorce court. Some issues that come before family court judges cannot be resolved conclusively in a premarital agreement.

A marital agreement is an agreement between spouses who intend to stay married that can resolve the same kinds of issues addressed in a premarital agreement. Legal authority permitting such agreements is growing. A marital agreement can be appropriate when a couple intended to enter into a premarital agreement but ran out of time to complete the process before the wedding. Some couples who are estranged, but wish to try reconciliation, enter into a marital agreement to predetermine division of property and spousal support in case the reconciliation is not successful.

This webinar from Bloomberg BNA, What Estate Planners Need to Know about Premarital and Marital Agreements and Divorce, presented by Linda J. Ravdin, addresses a number of issues that are of concern to estate planners who want to protect their premarital and marital agreement clients who may divorce.

This live webinar will cover:

• Law of property and support in the absence of an enforceable contract;
• Premarital and marital agreements – validity and scope;
• Drafting for divorce;
• Issues to consider after the agreement is executed.

Educational Objectives

• Review the law governing validity of premarital and marital agreements, including developments in the law that may raise the standards by which courts judge their validity;
• Review best practices in the conduct of premarital and marital agreement negotiations to better protect clients from a challenge to validity;
• Consider how the migratory client may face higher validity standards in the state of divorce as well as other laws that may thwart the client’s intentions, and how the lawyer can address this problem;
• Consider issues in the validity and drafting of same-sex premarital agreements;
• Special issues to consider when drafting an agreement for a young couple;
• Become familiar with some of the limitations on what parties can do in a premarital or marital agreement that is to be enforced in family court.

Course Level: Basic
Course Prerequisites: None
Delivery method: Group Interactive Live
Credits Available 1.5

Linda J. Ravdin, Esq., Pasternak & Fidis, P.C.