14-03.1 Uniform Premarital Agreement Act

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CHAPTER 14-03.1UNIFORM PREMARITAL AGREEMENT ACT14-03.1-01. Definitions. As used in sections 14-03.1-01 through 14-03.1-08:1.A person has &quot;notice&quot; of a fact if the person has knowledge of it, receives a<br>notification of it, or has reason to know that it exists from the facts and<br>circumstances known to the person.2.&quot;Premarital agreement&quot; means an agreement between prospective spouses made in<br>contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage.3.&quot;Property&quot; means an interest, present or future, legal or equitable, vested or<br>contingent, in real or personal property, including income and earnings.14-03.1-02. Formalities. A premarital agreement must be a document signed by bothparties. It is enforceable without consideration.14-03.1-03. Content.1.Parties to a premarital agreement may contract with respect to:a.The rights and obligations of each of the parties in any of the property of either<br>or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located.b.The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, lease, consume,<br>expend, assign, create a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose of,<br>or otherwise manage and control property.c.The disposition of property upon separation, marital dissolution, death, or the<br>occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event.d.The modification or elimination of spousal support.e.The making of a will, trust, or other arrangement to carry out the provisions of<br>the agreement.f.The ownership rights in and disposition of the death benefit from a life<br>insurance policy.g.The choice of law governing the construction of the agreement.h.Any other matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation<br>of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.2.The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital<br>agreement.14-03.1-04.Effect of marriage.A premarital agreement becomes effective uponmarriage.14-03.1-05. Amendment - Revocation. After marriage, a premarital agreement may beamended or revoked only by a written agreement signed by the parties.The amendedagreement or the revocation is enforceable without consideration.14-03.1-06. Enforcement.Page No. 11.A premarital agreement is not enforceable if the party against whom enforcement is<br>sought proves that:a.That party did not execute the agreement voluntarily; orb.The agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and, before<br>execution of the agreement, that party:(1)Was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or<br>financial obligations of the other party;(2)Did not voluntarily sign a document expressly waiving any right to<br>disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party<br>beyond the disclosure provided; and(3)Did not have notice of the property or financial obligations of the other<br>party.2.If a provision of a premarital agreement modifies or eliminates spousal support and<br>that modification or elimination causes one party to the agreement to be eligible for<br>support under a program of public assistance at the time of separation or marital<br>dissolution, a court, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement, may require the<br>other party to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility.3.An issue of unconscionability of a premarital agreement is for decision by the court<br>as a matter of law.14-03.1-07. Enforcement of unconscionable provisions. Notwithstanding the otherprovisions of this chapter, if a court finds that the enforcement of a premarital agreement would<br>be clearly unconscionable, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, enforce the remainder<br>of the agreement without the unconscionable provisions, or limit the application of an<br>unconscionable provision to avoid an unconscionable result.14-03.1-08. Enforcement - Void marriage. If a marriage is determined to be void, anagreement that would otherwise have been a premarital agreement is enforceable only to the<br>extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.14-03.1-09. Limitation of actions. Any statute of limitations applicable to an actionasserting a claim for relief under a premarital agreement is tolled during the marriage of the<br>parties to the agreement.However, equitable defenses limiting the time for enforcement,including laches and estoppel, are available to either party.Page No. 2Document Outlinechapter 14-03.1 uniform premarital agreement act