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Read this article and learn how to draft an Oregon prenuptial agreement that is in accordance with all the state laws and regulations.
Customized for Oregon This document may be legally binding in Oregon according to your state specific regulations.
The Oregon prenuptial agreement is a legal document that is signed between future spouses for the purpose of regulating their financial relationship during and after the marriage.
The common belief is that the parties only use the prenuptial agreement after marriage. However, the parties can also include clauses describing how they will manage the property acquired during the marriage.
Additionally, it is a common misconception that only wealthy spouses use prenuptial agreements. In fact, they can be useful in any situation where one or both parties have accumulated certain assets or certain liabilities that they want to keep as their individual property instead of sharing them with the other spouse.
The laws and legal requirements for a prenuptial agreement in Oregon are all outlined in Sections 108.700 to 108.740 of the Oregon Revised Statutes.
The state law refers to a prenuptial agreement as a 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 provides a definition of property as “an interest, present or future, legal or equitable, vested or contingent, in real or personal property, including income and earnings.”
Section 108.705 of the state law provides that the prenuptial agreement must be in writing and must be signed by both parties to the agreement.
Although the state law doesn’t explicitly set it as a requirement, the parties should also consider signing their agreement before the notary public whenever possible. The notary public will confirm the identity of the signing parties and acknowledge that they have personally signed the document. In this way, the parties will prevent potential disputes and fraud.
According to Section 108.725, the prenuptial agreement form can be declared unenforceable if one of the parties proves that:
The agreement can be unconscionable if one of the parties fails to provide complete or truthful information about their financial status. The same happens if the party opposing the enforcement doesn’t know or couldn’t know about the other party’s financial status.
Moreover, if the enforcement of the agreement causes one party to become eligible for support under a program of public assistance, the court can declare such an agreement unenforceable and require one of the parties to support the other one.
The parties are free to include any provision in their prenuptial agreement template to regulate their financial relationship. The only requirement is that the provisions don’t violate state law or public policies.
The Uniform Premarital Act provides a list of a few matters that can be covered by the prenuptial agreement:
Lastly, the prenup agreement cannot modify the right of a child to support.
First, the prenuptial agreement must be in line with all the formality criteria set by the state law. This means that the prenuptial agreement must be made in writing and have the signatures of both parties to the agreement.
Second, the validity of the prenuptial agreement is connected with the existence of the marriage. This means that the prenuptial agreement will be invalid if the parties don’t get married after signing it.
