Question:
I have been going steady and considering marriage. My close family are concerned that my fiancé my try to take advantage of my comfortable financial position (I have my own very successful company which I plan to expand after we get married). They suggested a “pre-nuptial agreement”. What is this and would it be a good idea for me ?
Answer:
A prenuptial agreement is a written contract made between two people before marriage which sets out their mutual rights and obligations during matrimony and afterwards, in the event of them splitting up.
It is a very useful mechanism for preventing or minimizing legal battles and heartache later, given the high divorce rate these days and can be used to scare off “gold-diggers”.
Unless an agreement is made, someone marrying after 1974 whose marriage fails is entitled to property according to the terms of the 1973 Spouses’ Property Relations Act. Under the act property acquired during the marriage is “common property” which, upon divorce or death, is “equalized” or “balanced” between the parties, once all debts have been paid off.
The act classifies property owned exclusively by one party before they married and property inherited during the marriage as personal property, not subject to equalization. It also permits couples to form an agreement defining what they consider as common and personal property in their own marriage, thus allowing them to protect their individual interests.
Thus unless an agreement has been made otherwise, all the business expansion /success that took place during the marriage would be regarded as common property, subject to equalization, if the couple divorced. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to an ambitious businesswoman to draft a pre-nuptial agreement which defined her business as individual and not joint property.
A pre-nuptial agreement is only legally binding if duly authorized - this can be done before a notary or a marriage registrar, or at the family court or the rabbinical court. Court authorization is recommended.