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I've been told that it's not uncommon for CA judges to throw prenups away in cases where, say, one of the two partners started a company and vested a huge chunk

I've been told that it's not uncommon for CA judges to throw prenups away in cases where, say, one of the two partners started a company and vested a huge chunk of shares, but the other partner would be getting none of that on divorce according to the prenup. In this case California community property laws overrode the prenup. In fact, having dealt with a prenup myself, I've been told not to even bother with a pre-nup as it was supposedly "unenforceable" according to my legal counsel. Any basis to this or is this just a scary story?

dogma1138 9y ago
I don’t live in CA or in the US but I’ve known people who got burned, known investors to actually inquire about prenups during their due diligence and have been told by more than one lawyer that if you live in a country where common law marriage exists to get some sort of a contract signed that would clarify the status of any shared property as well as individual investments before the common law period kicks in (e.g. if you about to be living together for 5 years).
dominotw 9y ago
I know someone who's prenup was invalid because other party claimef didn't understand what she was singing. It's very very unlikely that ur prenup will be thrown if it's deemed unfair.
- BadassFractal 9y ago
  I believe the judge will want to see that both parties had qualified legal counsel at the time of signing the prenup, otherwise it might not be considered valid. I suppose with enough money at stake and enough animosity between the two parties, it is always advantageous to claim to not have understood the original contract. Worst case you lost a bunch of money in legal fees, best case you win big.
hkmurakami 9y ago
You explicitly write this in. Implicit terms get you in trouble. Usually assets earned after marriage are split during a divorce while assets owned before marriage are considered separate property btw.

dogma1138 9y ago

I don’t live in CA or in the US but I’ve known people who got burned, known investors to actually inquire about prenups during their due diligence and have been told by more than one lawyer that if you live in a country where common law marriage exists to get some sort of a contract signed that would clarify the status of any shared property as well as individual investments before the common law period kicks in (e.g. if you about to be living together for 5 years).

dominotw 9y ago

I know someone who's prenup was invalid because other party claimef didn't understand what she was singing. It's very very unlikely that ur prenup will be thrown if it's deemed unfair.

BadassFractal 9y ago
I believe the judge will want to see that both parties had qualified legal counsel at the time of signing the prenup, otherwise it might not be considered valid. I suppose with enough money at stake and enough animosity between the two parties, it is always advantageous to claim to not have understood the original contract. Worst case you lost a bunch of money in legal fees, best case you win big.

hkmurakami 9y ago

You explicitly write this in. Implicit terms get you in trouble. Usually assets earned after marriage are split during a divorce while assets owned before marriage are considered separate property btw.