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The Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement is a legal document that outlines how the spouses will handle their mutual financial and non-financial affairs during and after the marriage. The postnuptial agreement form can include matters like management of the marital property during the marriage, division of the property after divorce, alimony, and more.
The main difference between postnuptial and prenuptial agreements is the instance when the parties sign the agreement. With prenup agreements, they do it before they enter the marriage. However, with postnuptial agreements, the parties sign the document once they have entered the marriage.
Laws and Legal Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Pennsylvania
The laws and legal requirements for a postnuptial agreement in Pennsylvania are used to provide a legal framework for the Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement. They are also supposed to determine what the document should look like and what provisions it can or cannot include.
State law and court decisions are the main sources of law for the Pennsylvania postnup agreement. They provide basic guidelines on what the postnup agreement should look like and what provisions it can or cannot include.
Section 3501(a)(2) of the Pennsylvania Statutes provides that the marital property doesn’t include the property excluded by a valid agreement of the parties entered into before, during, or after the marriage.
Signing Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Pennsylvania
The state law provides that the Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement must be in written form. Moreover, both parties to the agreement must sign the document.
The state law, however, doesn’t require parties to notarize the postnuptial agreement form. Nonetheless, the spouses should always consider completing this step since it will provide additional confirmation of the document’s authenticity. Moreover, it can also prevent potential disputes in this regard as well as any fraudulent activities.
Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement must fulfill two requirements to be considered enforceable.
First, both spouses must voluntarily sign the agreement. This means that each party must do it without influence, fraud, coercion, duress, or any similar manipulation of the spouse's free will.
Moreover, the postnuptial agreement should include a complete and truthful disclosure of each party’s financial status. This means that each party should provide a list of all of their assets and liabilities acquired up to the moment of signing the postnuptial agreement form.
What Can a Postnuptial Agreement in Pennsylvania Cover?
The postnuptial agreement in Pennsylvania can cover different matters connected with the financial and non-financial relationship of the spouses.
In this section, you can see some of the most common provisions included in the Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement template:
Provisions in a Postnuptial Agreement
The rights and responsibilities of each spouse in terms of their individual and marital property
Right to sell, buy, lease, transfer, exchange, mortgage, or manage the property acquired during the marriage
Agreement on how the parties will divide the property in case they get divorced
Determining the rights of the spouses in connection with spousal support, insurance, pensions, wills, trusts, and more
Determining the governing law for the interpretation of the postnuptial agreement
The Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement, however, cannot include the provisions related to child support since this matter is in the exclusive jurisdiction of the court.
Postnuptial Agreement in Pennsylvania: Validity Criteria
The validity of the Pennsylvania postnuptial agreement is connected with the formality criteria set by the state laws. This means that the postnup agreement must be made in written form and that both spouses must sign the agreement for it to be considered valid.
In addition, the validity of the postnuptial agreement also depends on the existence of the marriage. This means that the spouses can enter into a valid postnuptial agreement only after they get married. Moreover, the parties can create multiple postnuptial agreements to regulate different matters connected with their financial and non-financial relationships.