Download New Jersey Postnuptial Agreement Form [PDF]

The New Jersey postnuptial agreement is a legal document used to determine the rights and obligations of each spouse in connection with their individual and marital property.

The main difference between a postnuptial and a prenuptial agreement is the instance when the parties sign the agreement. With a prenup agreement, the parties sign the document before they get married, while with a postnup agreement, they sign it after they get married.

Postnuptial agreements are used both during and after marriage. The parties can use these to set up rules on how marital property will be divided in case the parties get divorced.

Laws and Legal Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in New Jersey

The laws and legal requirements for a postnuptial agreement in New Jersey are outlined in decisions made by the New Jersey courts and provisions of the state law.

The court decisions are important for determining the legality of the postnuptial agreement. They set precedents that can later be used in the future observation of the legality of the prenup agreement.

One of the most important court cases for the New Jersey postnuptial agreement form is Conforti v. Guliadis (1992). Here, the court states that “[m]arital property settlement agreements ‘involve far more than economic factors’ and must serve the strong public and statutory purpose of ensuring fairness and equity in the dissolution of marriages.”

Signing Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in New Jersey

According to the New Jersey state law requirements, the postnuptial agreement must be made in written form. Besides that, both spouses are required to sign the document.

In New Jersey, however, the parties are not required to notarize their postnuptial agreement. Regardless, they should consider completing this step whenever it is possible.

The main benefit of notarization is that it will additionally confirm the authenticity of the document and prevent potential disputes between the spouses in this regard, as well as any fraudulent activities.

Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement in New Jersey

The New Jersey postnuptial agreement must fulfill multiple conditions to be considered enforceable.

First, both parties to the agreement must sign the document voluntarily. This means that they must not be under influence, coercion, duress, fraud, or other kinds of manipulation of free will at the moment of signing the document.

Moreover, the postnup agreement must include complete and truthful information about each spouse’s financial status. The parties should provide a list of all of their assets and liabilities in the document.

What Can a Postnuptial Agreement in New Jersey Cover?

The postnuptial agreement in New Jersey can cover any aspect of the parties’ financial and non-financial relationship during and after the marriage. However, the provisions of the postnuptial agreement must all be in line with state law and public policy.

In this section, you can see the matters that are most commonly regulated by the New Jersey postnuptial agreement template:

Postnuptial Agreement in New Jersey: Validity Criteria

The first validity criterion for the New Jersey postnuptial agreement form is in relation to the formality criteria set for this kind of agreement. This means that the postnup agreement must be in written form to be considered valid.

Moreover, the validity of the postnuptial agreement form also depends on the existence of the marriage. This means that the parties must sign the postnup agreement at some point during their marriage so the document can be considered valid. The parties are free to create multiple postnuptial agreements to regulate different matters concerning their marital property.