During the course of their lives, many people choose to marry. That being said, as you know, it is quite possible to love someone without wanting to formally get married. This is becoming more and more common in today’s day and age. That being said, married couples are allowed access to various legal and financial benefits because of their marital status, and non-married couples are not. However, by drafting a non-marital agreement you can obtain many of these very benefits. Please read on and reach out to our knowledgeable New Jersey family law attorneys to learn more about non-marital agreements, how we can help you draft one, and how doing so may benefit you and your partner in the long run. Here are some of the questions you may have:
What are non-marital agreements?
Essentially, non-marital agreements allow couples to detail various terms of their partnership, many of which involving legal, medical, or financial decisions. Non-marital agreements will:
- Allow couples to create powers of attorney (financial or medical)
- Give couples the right to create advance healthcare directives
- Give couples the right to include each other on their life insurance policies
What makes a non-marital agreement valid and enforceable?
All non-marital agreements must meet various qualifications for them to be considered valid and enforceable. When a document is not considered valid and enforceable in the eyes of the law, it may as well not have even been created. For a non-marital agreement to be considered valid and enforceable in the eyes of New Jersey law, it must meet the following qualifications:
- The agreement must be in writing.
- Non-marital agreements are required to include full disclosure of both partners’ assets.
- There cannot be any evidence of coersion, deceit, or otherwise threatening a partner into signing such a document.
- Both partners will have to retain legal counsel, or they must explicitly waive their right to legal counsel in writing
- Both partners must have had sufficient time to consider and understand the terms of their non-marital agreement.
Our Bergen County family law attorneys can work to ensure that your non-marital agreement meets all of the necessary qualifications to be considered valid and enforceable, and that your agreement addresses all of the critical needs that you and your partner have.
Contact our experienced Bergen County firm
At Townsend, Tomaio & Newmark, our attorneys have extensive experience helping clients to understand and protect their legal rights before, during, and after the divorce process in towns across New Jersey and Bergen County, including Hackensack, Ridgewood, Paramus, Teaneck, and Fort Lee. To speak with our team of divorce lawyers today in a free and confidential consultation regarding your concerns about your divorce, please contact us online, or through our Hackensack, NJ office at (201) 397-1750.
