Pre-Nuptial Agreements

If no premarital agreement has been made, Illinois property laws take effect and will determine who owns the property acquired during your marriage, as well as what happens to the property during a divorce or death.

While the list varies by couples, here is a non-conclusive list of the most common reasons people choose to legally attain a prenup:

• Protect inheritance rights of children from a previous marriage
• Protect business interests
• Protect pensions or retirement accounts earned before the marriage
• Protect family-owned properties
• Shelter one person's debt from the other before marriage 

Each state controls what is enforceable in a Pre-Nuptial Agreement.  These are the most common areas of interest a state may not support in a prenup:

• Parental Rights: A Prenup cannot protect legal parental rights. If a divorce is in the works and you have children, you will need to go through the process for determining allocation of parental responsibilities.
• Maintenance: A prenup may not support the absence of spousal support (also known as maintenance and/or alimony) payments. The Court may find the agreement towards maintenance is unfair.
• Signing Under Duress: If the Judge suspects that either party appeared to sign under pressure, they may choose to disregard the prenup and divide assets according to Illinois state laws.