Currently India is witnessing a increase in divorce cases, and moreover this can get worst if financial securities are added to the emotional trauma. So having a prenuptial agreement can help to get this scenario better? But what are prenuptial agreement?
Prenuptial agreement: It is an agreement or a contract that is signed by the couple who are soon going to get married or they intends to get marriage or it can be that they will stay together in form of civil union. This agreement includes provisions pertaining about the distribution of all assets, liabilities and also property it also includes post separation of couple or spousal support in case of child custody after divorce. This document comprises of many things and they may vary from time to time and condition to condition. It may also include maintenance of alimony that is the financial support that a person is ordered by court to give to their husband/wife during separation, in cases of divorce. This document also comprise of terms and condition for forfeiture of assets on the basics of adultery, condition of guardianship post dissolution of marriage, etc. this concept is popular in Canada Italy France etc, basically the European countries.
The enforcement of this agreement can be done only if the agreement is certain, clear, voluntary and mutually signed and must be in writing. It is necessary that the agreement must be signed before marriage. Both the parties must have consented to the same thing in the same sense. The consent must not be obtained by forcing the parties, or by pressurized them, it must be free. The agreement need to be certified and notarized. It must have list of all the assets, liabilities, also a list of financial possession, etc owned by both husband and wife. Every information should be true and it should be valid.
If we talk about prenuptial agreement in India, they are not valid in India and they are legally invalid in India, according to Hindu marriage act a marriage is not considered as a contract. A marriage is considered as a scared and a religious bond between two persons and a husband and wife are considered to stay together till eternity. According to Indian Contract act marriage is not considered as a contract or an agreement. And there are also some supreme court hearingwhich says that a contract which has marriage as object are null and void.
The objective behind making prenuptial agreement in India can be that it will consider husband and wife as equal it also clears after marriage issue and after divorce issue. This will not make the male spouse suffer as most of the alimony laws support women spouses and it is seen that the financial condition of the male spouse is often ignored, so the financial decision get biased. Now in this case of prenuptial agreement the financial status is clear and so in case of post separation there will be a equal flow of money. This also prevent male spouse from any kind of abuse caused by female spouse in lieu of seeking maintenance post separation. If there are prenuptial agreement then there is no chance of fraud as in many cases the families often lie about the financial condition, but here the financial background and the status is very clear.
Following are the advantages of prenuptial agreement. Prenuptial agreements facilitate the system of looking for upkeep quickly and additionally save you the events from spending exorbitant expenses of advocates. The settlement or agreement protects each the events from every others debts. Both the events are financially secured even in conditions in which in both of the spouses passes away. The settlement or agreement protects and secures the children destiny even supposing each the events determine to move for divorce or mutual separation. Women generally tend to surrender their careers after marriage and determine to awareness handiest on elevating their own circle of relatives well. But this settlement financially secures the destiny of women. Prenuptial settlement assured custodial troubles and remarriage rights. The settlement prevents the enterprise from getting divided. The settlement guarantees spousal support, upkeep and alimony. The agreements save you couples from dealing with embarrassing conditions in courtroom docket lawsuits and simplify the system of separation for each the events. The prenuptial settlement reduces the conflict and fights between both the parties.
If we take a look at the disadvantages of this type of agreement, it is always difficult and a very complex step for both the parties, as it talks about after marriage scenario so it also implies that the couple do not want the marriage to last forever and in India a marriage is supposed to last forever. This agreement can adversely impact the life of both the parties post marriage. This will purely be a contractual marriage, and so the feeling of love and affection will be missing. More importance will be given to money by both the parties. If somehow one of the spouse fails to perform the contractual obligation after marriage it will soon became a ground for divorce and the understanding capacity will became less and there will be more reason for a couple to fight
If we take a close look, these type of agreement can work either way they can put a adversely impact on the life of a couple and on the other hand the parties can have a clear idea about each other. But moreover they are very beneficial for the parties.
