Download Illinois Prenuptial Agreement Form [PDF]

The Illinois prenuptial agreement is a legal document that regulates the financial relationship between the two parties before they enter a marriage.

This document is mostly used when one or both parties have accumulated certain assets before the marriage, and they want to keep them as their individual property and exclude them from the marital property shared by both spouses.

The parties also commonly use the prenuptial or prenup agreement when they want to determine how they will share the property accumulated during the marriage, also called marital property, in the event of a marriage dissolution.

Laws and Legal Requirements for a Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

Section 750 ILCS 10/1 to 750 ILCS 10/11 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, also called the  Illinois Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, provides the legal framework for prenuptial agreements in Illinois.

Section 750 ILCS 10/2 refers to the prenuptial agreement as the premarital agreement, and it defines it as “an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage.”

Moreover, it defines property as “interest, present or future, legal or equitable, vested or contingent, in real or personal property, including income and earnings.”

Signing Requirements for a Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois

When it comes to the formal requirements for the Illinois prenuptial agreement form, the state law provides that the agreement must be made in writing, and both parties to the agreement must sign it.

The state law doesn’t provide that the prenup agreement must be notarized. However, this step is a good way to additionally confirm the authenticity of the document and should be done when possible. The notary public will also stamp and sign the document and acknowledge that both pirates have signed it. This will prevent potential fraud and disputes between the parties.

Prenuptial Agreement Enforcement in Illinois

Section 750 ILCS 10/7 provides that the prenuptial agreement can’t be enforced if one of the parties proves that:

What Can a Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois Cover?

The common belief is that parties only use the prenuptial agreement after marriage. However, parties can use the prenuptial agreement form to regulate their financial relationship both during the marriage and in case their marriage dissolves.

State law provides some of the most common matters that can be regulated with the prenuptial agreement:

Overall, the partners can include any provision that will regulate their financial relationship during or after the marriage, as long as it doesn’t violate public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty. 

Moreover, the partners are not allowed to include provisions that regulate matters related to child support.

Prenuptial Agreement in Illinois: Validity Criteria

The basic validity criteria are connected to the formal requirements that the prenuptial agreement template must meet in the state of Illinois. This means that the prenup agreement will be considered invalid if it’s not made in a written form and is not signed by both future spouses.

Moreover, the prenup agreement won’t be considered valid if the parties don’t enter the marriage after signing the document, since the validity of the agreement is dependent on the existence of the marriage.