Prenuptial agreements, also known as premarital contracts or prenups, can help to give spouses protection from messy, acrimonious divorces. By agreeing to certain terms prior to marrying, they can preserve specific resources and limit the conflict that arises during divorce.
Many people who sign prenuptial agreements do so under the expectation that their marriage won’t end in divorce. People may not consider the terms very carefully until their relationship sours. Sometimes, the people who signed prenuptial agreements before getting married can invalidate the contract as part of the divorce process.
In cases where spouses shared legal representation while drafting a prenuptial agreement, the contract may not hold up after litigation.
Representing two people is a conflict of interest
Attorneys have a fiduciary duty to their clients. They have a responsibility to act in their best interests. Agreeing to represent both spouses during the negotiation of a prenuptial agreement can violate that duty.
An attorney can only truly center the needs of one individual in a scenario that may involve conflict between two clients. As such, the contract may favor one spouse over the other. In fact, one of the spouses may have lacked context or the agreement and may have agreed to concessions that they did not realize were unfair or inappropriate.
It is generally considered appropriate for both spouses to have a separate lawyer when negotiating a prenuptial agreement. In cases where one lawyer handled the entire process, there may be reason to question the validity of the contract.
Discussing an upcoming divorce and reviewing a couple’s prenuptial agreement with a skilled legal team can help people prepare for divorce. In some cases, it may be possible to ask the courts to set aside an imbalanced and unfair prenuptial agreement.
