Prenuptial agreements are on the rise. According to a July 2022 article in the New Yorker, the percentage of married couples who have a prenup has increased from three percent in 2010 to fifteen percent in 2022. When a prenup is in play during divorce, some of the ambiguous questions are already answered.
However, there are valid grounds for you to challenge a signed prenup. Investigate the possibility of it being a flawed agreement due to an improper power imbalance, false pretenses or duress.
If you signed the prenup without legal representation
A prenup could be invalid if you did not seek the advice of an attorney before signing it. This is because of the major power imbalance that can occur when one side has formal representation and the other does not.
If the other party did not disclose all their assets
During the course of a marriage, you are bound to learn more about a person’s past than you know at the moment you sign a prenup. If you have knowledge or evidence now that contradicts what the person reported originally in their prenup, a judge or mediator could disregard part or all of the agreement due to lack of full disclosure.
If the prenup was sprung on you at the last minute
Weddings are both exciting and stressful. If your spouse gave you a prenup to sign when you were already “all in” or created an ultimatum on you to sign it, it may be invalid. Human beings under stress or otherwise preoccupied are more likely to sign documents without fully reading or understanding them.
Challenging prenups can be an effective way to recoup assets that you deserve.
