A prenuptial agreement, as important as it is, often becomes something that is all too easy to put off. Maybe you want to ask your soon-to-be-spouse for one, but you’re worried about the way they’ll react. Therefore, you keep delaying. Finally, when the marriage is a week away and you can’t put it off any longer, you bring it up.
You may already have made sure that the prenup will not hold up in court. That’s the problem with the last-minute prenup. It’s too close to the wedding, and that can force your partner’s hand. That’s a type of duress, and your spouse can argue as such in court if you get divorced.
Think about it from their perspective. You have wanted the prenup for months, but they had no idea. It would be embarrassing to cancel the wedding a week before. It may cost a lot of money to cancel. They’ll sign the prenup just to make sure they get married, even if they don’t want to — or don’t have time to read it or consider the implications.
If you and your spouse divorce, you’ll bring out the prenup, but that’s when they’ll point out that they didn’t read it, didn’t understand it, didn’t have time to consider it or that they only signed because they were under duress. And then the judge will throw it out.
This is one of the most common prenup mistakes. It’s important to avoid as many as possible. An experienced attorney can help you draw up a prenup or review one that your partner has drawn up with their attorney.