Marital
Agreements
California
Family Code, sections 1500-1620
General Provisions.
1500. The property
rights of husband and wife prescribed by statute
may be altered by a premarital agreement or other
marital property agreement.
1501. A minor may make a valid premarital agreement
or other marital property agreement if the minor
is emancipated or is otherwise capable of contracting
marriage.
1502. (a) A premarital agreement or other marital
property agreement that is executed and acknowledged
or proved in the manner that a grant of real property
is required to be executed and acknowledged or
proved may be recorded in the office of the recorder
of each county in which real property affected
by the agreement is situated.
(b) Recording or nonrecording of a premarital
agreement or other marital property agreement
has the same effect as recording or nonrecording
of a grant of real property.
1503. Nothing in this chapter affects the validity
or effect of premarital agreements made before
January 1, 1986, and the validity and effect of
those agreements shall continue to be determined
by the law applicable to the agreements before
January 1, 1986.
Uniform Premarital
Agreement Act
Article 1. Preliminary
Provisions.
1600. This chapter may be cited as the Uniform
Premarital Agreement Act.
1601. This chapter is effective on and after
January 1, 1986, and applies to any premarital
agreement executed on or after that date.
Article 2.
Premarital
Agreements.
1610. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Premarital agreement" means an
agreement between prospective spouses made in
contemplation of marriage and to be effective
upon marriage.
(b) "Property" means an interest, present
or future, legal or equitable, vested or contingent,
in real or personal property, including income
and earnings.
1611. A premarital agreement shall be in writing
and signed by both parties. It is enforceable
without consideration.
1612. (a) Parties to a premarital agreement may
contract with respect to all of the following:
(1)
The rights and obligations of each of the parties
in any of the property of either
or both of them whenever and wherever acquired
or located.
(2)
The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange,
abandon, lease, consume, expend, assign, create
a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose
of, or otherwise manage and control property.
(3)
The disposition of property upon
separation, marital dissolution, death, or the
occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event.
(4)
The making of a will, trust, or other
arrangement to carry out the provisions
of the agreement.
(5)
The ownership rights in and disposition of the
death benefit from a life insurance policy.
(6)
The choice of law governing the
construction of the agreement.
(7)
Any other matter, including their
personal rights and obligations, not in violation
of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal
penalty.
(b) The right of a child to support may not
be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.
(c) Any provision in a premarital agreement regarding
spousal support, including, but not limited
to, a waiver of it, is not enforceable
if the party against whom enforcement
of the spousal support provision is sought was
not represented by independent counsel
at the time the agreement containing the provision
was signed, or if the provision
regarding spousal support is unconscionable at
the time of enforcement. An otherwise unenforceable
provision in a premarital agreement regarding
spousal support may not become enforceable solely
because the party against whom enforcement is
sought was represented by independent counsel.
1613. A premarital agreement becomes effective
upon marriage.
1614. After marriage, a premarital agreement
may be amended or revoked only
by a written agreement signed by
the parties. The amended agreement or
the revocation is enforceable without consideration.
1615. (a) A premarital agreement
is not enforceable if the party
against whom enforcement is sought proves either
of the following:
(1)
That party did not execute the agreement voluntarily.
(2)
The agreement was unconscionable when it was
executed and, before execution
of the agreement, all of the
following applied to that party:
(A)
That party was not provided a fair, reasonable,
and full disclosure of the property or
financial obligations of the other party.
(B)
That party did not voluntarily and expressly
waive, in writing, any right to disclosure
of the property or financial obligations of the
other party beyond the disclosure provided.
(C)
That party did not have, or reasonably could
not have had, an adequate knowledge of the property
or financial obligations of the other party.
(b) An issue of unconscionability of a premarital
agreement shall be decided by the court as
a matter of law.
(c) For the purposes of subdivision
(a), it shall be deemed that a premarital
agreement was not executed voluntarily
unless the court finds in writing or
on the record all of the following:
(1)
The party against whom enforcement is sought was
represented by independent legal counsel
at the time of signing the agreement
or, after being advised to seek independent legal
counsel, expressly waived, in a separate writing,
representation by independent legal counsel.
(2)
The party against whom enforcement is sought had
not less than seven calendar days between
the time that party was first presented with the
agreement and advised to seek independent legal
counsel and the time the agreement was signed.
(3) The party against whom
enforcement is sought, if unrepresented by legal
counsel, was fully informed of
the terms and basic effect of the agreement as
well as the rights and obligations he
or she was giving up by signing the agreement,
and was proficient in the language
in which the explanation of the party's rights
was conducted and in which the
agreement was written. The explanation of the
rights and obligations relinquished shall be memorialized
in writing and delivered
to the party prior to signing the agreement. The
unrepresented party shall, on or before the signing
of the premarital agreement, execute a document
declaring that he or she received the information
required by this paragraph and indicating who
provided that information.
(4) The agreement and the writings executed pursuant
to paragraphs (1) and
(3) were not
executed under duress, fraud, or undue influence,
and the parties did not lack
capacity to enter into the agreement.
(5) Any other factors the court deems
relevant.
1616. If a marriage is determined to be void,
an agreement that would otherwise have been a
premarital agreement is enforceable only to the
extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.
1617. Any statute of limitations applicable to
an action asserting a claim for relief under a
premarital agreement is tolled during the marriage
of the parties to the agreement. However, equitable
defenses limiting the time for enforcement,
including laches and estoppel, are available
to either party.
Article 3.
Agreements Between
Husband and Wife.
1620. Except as otherwise provided by law, a
husband and wife cannot, by a contract with each
other, alter their legal relations, except
as to property.
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