Are you sure your prenup will pass the court's scrutiny?

You determined that you needed a prenuptial agreement in order to protect your pre-wedding interests, and your intended spouse agrees to enter into it. After negotiating its terms, you execute the document and move forward with the rest of your wedding plans.

After years of marital bliss, you and your spouse begin not to get along. Eventually, the marriage deteriorates to the point where you consider divorce. This is when you drag out your dusty prenuptial agreement and review it. Will it stand up to a Kentucky court's scrutiny? Did you do everything right?

Mistakes that can render a prenup invalid

Since you have a written agreement, you have already avoided one mistake. However, your prenup may be invalid if any of the following apply:

• One of you felt pressured into signing
• The prenup wasn't executed in accordance with Kentucky law
• Neither of you had sufficient time to review the document
• Either of you failed to thoroughly read it
• One of you provided false information
• One of you neglected to provide full disclosure to the other
• The court rules one or more provisions invalid
• One of you would be significantly better off than the other
• Neither of you had the opportunity to discuss it with your own attorney

The courts and the law want to make sure that both parties entered into the agreement of their own free will after gaining a full understanding of what each of you would give up and an understanding of each of your rights. It is possible that the court would only invalidate portions of the agreement under certain circumstances. If the court did rule your prenuptial agreement invalid, you would have to start over during the divorce proceedings when it comes to dividing your property.

The next step

If you believe a chance exists that your prenup could end up invalid, you may have time to execute a post-nuptial agreement to correct any mistakes. If you are reading this and have not yet married and executed an agreement, you could make sure that you avoid the above mistakes.

In order to do so, you may want to give careful consideration to at least consulting with an attorney before executing the document. This could end up saving you and your future spouse considerable time, money and frustration in the event of a divorce.