West Virginia Prenuptial Agreement Form

In its most general sense, a Prenuptial Agreement is a legal document coming into effect when a couple decides to divorce or if either spouse dies. People with children from another marriage who want to secure their interests and people with significant personal assets need to know the peculiarities of compiling such a form. You can find out more about the form in this article.

The state law assigns this kind of contract (also referred to as an antenuptial contract) to cover future spouses’ financial interests and rights. It may also solve the issues of debts belonging to any of the sides from before the marriage, possible alimony payments, and financial investments, accounts, or businesses.

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West Virginia Prenup Laws and Requirements

The West Virginia marital legislation is relatively straightforward and detailed. The main aspects of the contents, conclusion, and reinforcement of a pre-marriage contract are stipulated in the West Virginia Code (Chapter 48, Article 1, Section 48-1-203).

The Code, in particular, emphasizes the following:

  • Both participants sign a prenup before marriage.
  • It covers the most critical issues related to marriage.
  • A prenup describes how to divide the marital property if a loving couple plans to separate, divorce, or cancel their relationship.
  • Since life is full of unexpected events, people sometimes die. In this unfortunate case, the state marital law can also support the widowed spouse.

Signing Requirements

Supposedly the future newlyweds successfully discussed their marital, financial rights, and obligations and compiled the document. Halfway done, it is time to think about actual signing. Let us review the most critical things that may seriously affect the prenup’s legal force in the future.

Here we turn to the State Code mentioned above, which specifies the prenuptial agreements’ signing requirements. It includes the following essential claims.

  • Both future spouses must sign it to make it valid.
  • The legal age of both sides is a second compulsory condition.
  • Each spouse, hesitant or unsure about anything, must be able to consult a lawyer.
  • A notarial certification is not binding but recommended.

Indeed, it is worth using the services of an independent counsel. In any case, it shows that the agreement was signed voluntarily, and the participants did understand what they were doing. But still, it is not a requirement for the prenups to enforce. You may learn about the reasons that affect the enforceability of such covenants from the guidelines below.

Enforceability

Prenuptial agreements cannot be enforced in West Virginia if the court reveals any signs of misrepresentation or the fact that either party has defrauded the other. A prenuptial agreement must be signed voluntarily, under the circumstances excluding fraud in any form, and with complete knowledge of its content and binding legal effect.

Please note that the local courts will not recognize any West Virginia Prenuptial Agreement if, at the time of signing, either of the parties was underage. Such agreements are void by default.

Court Refusal

The local courts tend to scrutinize prenups carefully and can refuse to enforce them. Therefore, both parties must negotiate beforehand and compile their agreement following the local requirements. The contract should be comprehensive and accurate.

For this purpose, you can fill in the prenuptial agreement form using our latest form-building software.

What Prenups Can Cover

In general, prenuptial agreements can provide particular advantages for any situation relating to the parties’ property, assets, and debts. Therefore, it is reasonable to think over the possible outcomes and specify the conditions in advance.

For instance, your premarital agreement can answer questions regarding:

  • How to pay premarital debts
  • Whether the premarital assets will be joint or separate
  • How medical assistance, disability insurance, and long-term professional care will be handled
  • Whether gifts or inheritances will be considered marital or separate property
  • Whether either spouse will receive alimony in the case of separation or divorce

Property types

The West Virginia state follows equitable distribution laws. Thus, property gained during the marriage belongs to the spouse who earned it. In case of divorce, the property is split between the spouses at the court’s discretion, which will consider several factors before making its final decision. Most frequently, a spouse can get between one-third and two-thirds of the common property. Thereby, it is reasonable to clarify this aspect in the prenuptial agreement.

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Consider our document maker to customize any form offered on FormsPal to your requirements. Here’s a number of some other widely-used West Virginia forms we provide.

Published: Jun 21, 2022