The Mississippi postnuptial agreement is a legal document that provides guidelines on how two parties will manage their property during the marriage and divide the property in case they get divorced.
The main difference between a postnuptial and a prenuptial agreement is the moment the parties sign these. With the prenup agreement, they sign the document before they get married. Contrary to that, they sign the postnup agreement once they have already entered the marriage.
The postnuptial agreement is not only created for the extremely wealthy. You can create a postnuptial agreement in any situation where you have a certain property and want to define how to manage it with your partner.
Laws and Legal Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Mississippi
The laws and legal requirements for a postnuptial agreement in Mississippi provide the rules on what the postnuptial agreement template should include to be considered legal. Moreover, they provide the basic principles for determining the legality of the postnup agreement.
The decisions made by the Mississippi courts typically outline those principles. Some of the most important court cases for determining the legality of the postnuptial agreement in Mississippi are Roberts v. Roberts (1980) and Barton v. Barton (2001).
Signing Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Mississippi
The Mississippi postnuptial agreement must be made in writing, and both spouses must sign the document.
The state law doesn’t set a formal requirement for the notarization of the postnuptial agreement. However, the parties should consider providing additional confirmation of the document’s authenticity by providing the signature of the notary public.
By completing this step, the parties will prevent potential disputes regarding the authenticity of the document as well as any fraudulent activities.
Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement in Mississippi
The state law provides few requirements for the enforcement of the Mississippi postnuptial agreement form. It states that, in order to be considered enforceable, this document must fulfill the following requirements:
Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement Conditions
Both parties must sign the document willingly, without other people’s influence, coercion, or fraud
Both spouses must be aware of the consequences of signing the postnuptial agreement
The agreement must be fair for both parties
If one of the requirements is not met, the spouse can raise a claim in front of the court and the court can declare a certain provision or a whole agreement unenforceable.
What Can a Postnuptial Agreement in Mississippi Cover?
The postnuptial agreement in Mississippi can cover multiple matters related to the parties' financial and non-financial relationship during and after the marriage. However, the parties should make sure all provisions of the postnuptial agreement form are in line with public policy and state law.
In this section, you can see the matters that are most commonly included in the Mississippi postnuptial agreement template:
Provisions in a Postnuptial Agreement
The rights and responsibilities of each spouse in connection with their individual and marital property
Right to sell, buy, lease, transfer, mortgage, or manage the property acquired during the marriage
Rules on how the property will be divided in case of marriage dissolution, divorce, death, or any similar event
Matters related to spousal support, wills, trusts, insurance, pensions, and more
Postnuptial Agreement in Mississippi: Validity Criteria
The first validity criterion for the Mississippi postnuptial agreement template is connected with the formality requirements set by the state law. This means that the postnup agreement must be 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 parties must sign the agreement at some point during their marriage for the document to be considered valid. Moreover, the parties can create multiple postnup agreements to regulate different aspects of their financial relationship.