An ante-nuptial contract or prenuptial contract is an agreement entered into by two parties prior to their marriage. Upon entering into such an agreement, both parties agree to exclude the system of community of property from their marriage. There are two different types of ante-nuptial contracts, those which include Accrual and those that exclude Accrual. If you do not enter into a valid ante-nuptial or prenuptial contract prior to your marriage, both parties are automatically married in Community of property.
Terms and conditions
Any ante-nuptial contract will include a variety of terms and conditions that need to be met, usually relating to the fair division of assets in the event of a death or divorce. During the marriage, each individual spouse will retain his or her separate property and would have the complete freedom to do with that property whatever they see fit. This would not be the case if the parties did not enter into an ante-nuptial agreement prior to their marriage, and as such would be married in Community of property. There is substantial protection in our constitution for spouses married in accordance to an ante-nuptial contract which is not afforded to those without such an ante-nuptial contract.
Benefits
If either spouse is declared insolvent, the opposite spouse is protected from the insolvent spouse’s creditors.
An ante-nuptial agreement can be created in a way that caters for your own unique and individual circumstances.
The respective spouses will not be held liable for any and all debt that the other spouse may have accumulated before the marriage.
Spouses will not need to obtain consent from the other spouse when dealing with their own property.
Each spouse will be able to retain their own financial identity.
Get protected
Contact a representative from Dreyer Engelbrecht Attorneys today to find out more information about ante-nuptial contracts, or to book your consultation today!
