Not everyone likes the idea of a prenuptial agreement. These premarital contracts effectively spell out the financial terms that a Texas couple will agree to in the event that their union ends in divorce. Although the prospect of planning for one’s future divorce is anything but romantic a prenuptial agreement can be a powerful tool for keeping the peace and finding resolution in the event the unthinkable occurs.

In order for a prenuptial agreement to be valid, though, it must satisfy several conditions that can apply to general contracts as well. Prenuptial agreements must be written down, which means that they may not be oral agreements between the parties who plan to marry each other. This is to ensure that one party does not attempt to change the terms of the agreement after they and the other party have come to an accord.

Additionally, a prenuptial agreement must be signed which demonstrates that the parties not only agreed to create such a contract but that they also agreed to the particular terms included in the signed copy. Prenuptial agreements may not be created under duress or force, which means that one party may not pressure the other to sign it as a condition of marriage, and prenuptial agreements cannot contain incorrect or incomplete information that may deceive one of the parties into agreeing to terms that are not in their interests.

There are other conditions that prenuptial agreements must meet in order to be valid, and Texas family law attorneys who help their clients draft and negotiate these important documents are good resources for those who want to begin their marriage with such documents in place. Prenuptial agreements may not be romantic but they can be very practical devices to have in place in the event that marriages must come to their legal ends.