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The Alabama postnuptial agreement is a legal document that outlines how the spouses will handle their mutual financial and non-financial affairs. This can include questions like the division of marital property in the event of a divorce, rights to certain property during the marriage, as well as matters connected with inheritance, trusts, liabilities, and more.
The main difference between a postnuptial agreement and a prenuptial agreement is the moment the parties have signed the agreement. With the prenup agreement, the parties sign the document before getting married, while with the postnup agreement, the parties sign the document during the marriage.
Laws and Legal Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Alabama
The laws and regulations for a postnuptial agreement in Alabama are outlined in the court precedents and a few provisions of the state law, considering that Alabama hasn’t adopted any uniform act regulating this matter.
The main case regulating postnuptial agreements is Barnhill v. Barnhill (1980).
It provides that the party that wants to execute the prenuptial agreement must prove that there was adequate consideration when the parties were signing the agreement. The consideration means that both parties have exchanged certain benefits. Besides that, the party executing the agreement also has to prove that the agreement was considered fair by the other party.
Signing Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Alabama
The postnuptial agreement, also called the postnup agreement, should be made in written form. Moreover, for this document to be valid, both parties to this agreement must sign it.
The state law doesn’t explicitly set the notarization of the postnuptial agreement as a requirement. However, parties should still consider completing this step. The main reason for this is that the notary public will additionally confirm the authenticity of the document, which will then serve as a precaution against any fraudulent activities.
Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement in Alabama
The Alabama postnuptial agreement will be considered enforceable if all of the following requirements are met:
Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement Conditions
each spouse makes a complete and truthful disclosure of their financial status in the postnuptial agreement before signing it;
each spouse enters the agreement freely and voluntarily;
provisions about the property division (if they are included in the document) are fair for both parties to the agreement.
What Can a Postnuptial Agreement in Alabama Cover?
A postnuptial agreement form in Alabama can cover multiple matters connected to the spouse's financial and non-financial relationship.
Here, you can see the matters that are most commonly regulated by the Alabama postnuptial agreement:
Provisions in a Postnuptial Agreement
Rights and responsibilities of each spouse towards the individual and marital property
Rules on how the parties will manage the property acquired during the marriage
Rules on how the parties will divide the property in case of marriage dissolution, divorce, death, or any similar event
Matters related to alimony, spousal support, pension and insurance funds, wills and trusts
Choice of relevant laws regulating the postnuptial agreement
The postnuptial agreement template, however, cannot include provisions about child support since it is in the exclusive jurisdiction of the court.
Postnuptial Agreement in Alabama: Validity Criteria
The first validity criteria for the Alabama postnuptial agreement is connected with the formality criteria set for this kind of agreement. This means that the prenuptial agreement must be made in written form to be considered valid.
Moreover, the validity of the postnuptial agreement also depends on the existence of the marriage. This means that the spouses must sign the postnuptial agreement at some point during their marriage for the document to be considered valid. Moreover, spouses can create multiple postnup agreements to regulate different aspects of their financial relationship.