Author: Adarsh Kumar, Student at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, Punjab
ABSTRACT
The agreement is an instrument which defines the assets and liabilities of the individuals in the unfortunate event of the failure of the marriage. The implementation of it is convoluted much further because of lack of specific enactment about the matter and inconsistency in the existing precedents of the courts involving these agreements. The primary purpose of it is to define the rights and obligations of the spouses, prior to the marriage, in case of dissolution of marriage. Though it fundamentally deals with the division of finances, it can also have the description of the custody of the children, maintenance and the conditions of marital life. THE NEED FOR PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS The prenuptial agreement delineates the terms in the case of dissolution of marriage, demise of a spouse and judicial separation. In the case of non-existence of such agreements, the personal laws of the individuals & the general lex loci apply in the determination of matters of distribution of properties, maintenance & custody of child in case of separation & divorce, and in inheritance in case of death. The creation of an agreement helps each couple to decide the extent of their respective rights and liabilities, though still in the ambit of the law, yet according to their situations.
