Marital Agreements and Related Practice Areas

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is enforced by the courts of the state that ends up reading it, and the five states this firm practises in do not apply identical standards. An agreement drafted without attention to where the parties may eventually live is drafted against an unknown. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. handles drafting, enforcement, and challenges. Call (888) 437-7747.

What Makes an Agreement Hold

The recurring requirements are recognisable across jurisdictions even where the details differ: a writing, voluntary execution without duress, and financial disclosure adequate for the other party to understand what they were agreeing to give up. Timing matters, because an agreement signed shortly before a wedding invites an argument about pressure. Independent counsel for both parties is not universally required, but its absence is one of the first things a challenger raises.

Challenges and Enforcement

A challenge usually attacks execution rather than terms: inadequate disclosure, absence of independent advice, or circumstances suggesting the agreement was not signed voluntarily. Unconscionability is argued separately and is assessed differently between states, including as to whether it is measured at signing or at enforcement. An agreement is rarely all or nothing, and a court may enforce some provisions while declining others.

Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York all divide marital property by equitable distribution rather than by community property rules. That means a court weighs statutory factors rather than applying a fixed split, and the factors differ between the five. Nothing on this page describes a rule that applies identically in every one of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a prenuptial agreement be set aside?

It can be challenged, most often on grounds concerning execution: inadequate financial disclosure, duress, or the absence of independent counsel. Whether a challenge succeeds depends on the jurisdiction and on what the circumstances of signing actually show.

Is a postnuptial agreement treated the same way?

Not identically. An agreement made during a marriage is scrutinised differently from one made before it in several jurisdictions, because the parties already owe each other duties that engaged spouses do not.

Does each side need a lawyer?

Independent counsel is not universally required, but its absence is one of the most common grounds raised in a later challenge. Where one party had counsel and the other did not, that asymmetry gets close attention.

About Mr. Sris

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., has practiced since 1997. He is a former prosecutor, and that experience shapes how he builds a documentary record. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. His background at George Mason University in accounting and information systems applies to complex financial and technology-related cases, which is where a contested property dispute usually turns. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys handle these matters together, with the division of work set at the start of the engagement.

Speak With Mr. Sris

Request a consultation. Reach our location at (888) 437-7747. Bring tax returns, statements for every account, any agreement signed before or during the marriage, entity documents for any business interest, and a short written timeline. That material lets the first conversation move past intake and into the questions that decide the case.

Last updated: August 25, 2026

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law differs between states, and nothing here is a substitute for advice about your own circumstances. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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