• About 55 percent of marriages today end in divorce. Couples can protect their assets by signing a prenuptial agreement before marriage, defining how their property is to be divided if the marriage ends in divorce. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the validity of prenuptial agreements are examined under state contract law.
  
  

Division of Assets in Prenuptial Agreement Binding

• Prenuptial agreements are signed by a husband and wife-to-be and set forth how separate property brought into the marriage by each party, as well as any property acquired during the marriage (marital property), is to be divided upon divorce or death of a spouse. Prenuptial agreements can also include provisions for alimony or spousal support, child custody and child support. If valid, prenuptial agreements drafted and signed in Pennsylvania are binding as to division of assets. However, custody and support issues are not binding because an agreement made before children are born may not be in the child's best interests upon the parents' divorce several years later.
  
  

Full Disclosure

• Pennsylvania law does not require that prenuptial agreements be signed very far in advance of the wedding. In fact, the issue was even litigated in Hamilton v. Hamilton, and the Pennsylvania court held that a prenuptial agreement signed on the night before the wedding was valid. However, courts do prefer agreements that are completely negotiated and well drafted, at least three months before the wedding is preferred for drafting and signing. That time frame also allows both parties to provide full disclosure of their financial assets, the only requirement in Pennsylvania law. Pennsylvania statute 3106 states that a prenuptial agreement will be declared invalid if: (1) there has not been "fair and reasonable disclosure" of both spouses' property and monetary assets, (2) disclosure of property and assets was not properly waived, in writing or (3) one spouse did not have complete knowledge or understanding of the financial circumstances of the other.
  
  

Voluntary Agreements

• Prenuptial agreements must also be voluntary. The spouse objecting to the validity of a prenuptial agreement must prove with clear and convincing evidence that the agreement was signed under duress, meaning it was not voluntary, or it was signed based on fraud or misrepresentation. Additionally, an agreement signed without the assistance of an attorney is not necessarily considered involuntary.
  
  In 2009 a Pennsylvania court held that a prenuptial agreement was valid even though the wife-to-be had not reviewed the agreement with an attorney. The court held that she had plenty of time to look over the agreement before signing and her signature was voluntary and with full knowledge of the provisions in the agreement.