What Can We Include in an Illinois Prenuptial Agreement?

 Posted on September 24, 2022 in Family Law

When a couple decides to create a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, they usually have questions about what, exactly, the agreement can include. Can they set limits on alimony? What about child support? Can parents agree to split custody of the kids 50/50 now, while they get along well and are not in a heated divorce?

Enforceability is perhaps the most important part of a prenuptial agreement because if a contract is not enforceable, it is a waste of time and money, and a couple ends up fighting over the issues they hoped to protect themselves and each other from. To make sure your prenuptial agreement is enforceable, read this blog about what a prenuptial agreement can address, and then contact an Illinois premarital agreement attorney who can help you create your own.

What Issues Can a Prenup Cover in Illinois?

Perhaps the easiest way to understand what a prenuptial agreement can cover is first to examine what it cannot. Anything related to a child of the marriage - such as child support, parental responsibilities, or parenting time - cannot be addressed. This is because these are separate areas of Illinois law that can only be decided by a family law court at the time a couple legally separates or divorces.

Prenuptial agreements also cannot result in a divorce decree that would be patently unfair to one spouse. While this is a somewhat subjective standard, a good measure of such unfairness would be whether one spouse would be dependent on public assistance to get their needs met following the divorce. So, for example, if one spouse had a significant amount of personal wealth before getting married and, during the course of the marriage, the other spouse stayed home to raise children and agreed to forgo spousal support in the prenuptial agreement, the divorce might leave the homemaker spouse with no assets and no recourse for spousal support.

It is also important to note that a prenuptial agreement cannot be signed under force or coercion. A partner who presents his fiancé with a prenuptial agreement a week before the wedding and says the wedding is conditional upon the prenup being signed is putting the entire contract at risk of being thrown out.

Within these boundaries, prenuptial agreements can cover almost anything else that both spouses agree to. You can agree to forgo spousal support; you can also agree to a specific amount or specific percentage of one spouse’s wage at the time of divorce. You could specify which spouse is responsible for paying certain expenses during the marriage, or that a certain amount of money will be set aside each month to be placed in a savings fund for your children from a previous marriage.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a Lombard Prenuptial Agreement Lawyer

When you write a prenuptial agreement, you want to make absolutely sure that it will be enforceable if you get divorced. For help creating an airtight premarital contract, contact the DuPage County prenuptial agreement attorneys with Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices. We will work closely with you to make sure we understand your situation so we can make sure your prenuptial agreement is exactly what you need. Call 630-932-9100 today.

Source:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2087&ChapterID=59