Pre-Marital agreements are binding legal contracts entered between two adults who intend to legally marry each other. Such agreements are also known as pre-nuptial agreements.

Through a premarital agreement, parties can avoid the usual legal consequences of joining the estates of two parties by marriage and each party to the agreement can ensure that the assets remain theirs in the event of divorce, go to their children in the event of death, and to work out arrangements for matters that may become problems after the marriage.

The parties intending to enter into a premarital agreement should make a full and complete written disclosure of each other’s assets and liabilities before the wedding. The terms intended to be incorporated into the agreement should be reasonable and fair. Both the parties should be given ample time to review the terms of the agreement before actually entering into a premarital agreement.

For the premarital agreement to be binding, it should be made in writing, must be signed by both the parties, and the terms of the agreement should mention and disclose all the assets, liabilities and income of both the parties. Above all, the agreement should be entered into by the parties freely and voluntarily - it must be free from force and fraud.

Those agreements that are made in conformity with the requirements of a valid premarital agreement shall be enforceable. Those agreements made without full disclosure or entered into without proper legal advice or under duress or fraud will not be enforceable.

A marital agreement can be made after the wedding whenever differences arise between the parties regarding the future financial issues. The agreement must be based upon some consideration other than the marriage itself. Sometimes such an agreement is made as part of a reconciliation of the parties or following some other dispute. Such an agreement has been held to be just as enforceable as a premarital agreement.