A Michigan postnuptial agreement is a legal contract between married spouses detailing their rights and obligations should the marriage end by divorce or death. Unlike a prenuptial agreement, which is executed before the marriage, this agreement can be entered into at any point after the marriage begins and serves to determine how marital property will be divided.
Legal Considerations
- Signing Requirements: Both parties must sign the document. (Skaates v. Kayser (2020))
- Dividing Property: Equitable division. (§ 552.401)
Understanding Postnuptial Agreements in Michigan
Considerations
- Contract Law: In Skaates v. Kayser (2020), courts apply contract principles to evaluate postnuptial and marital agreements.
- Intent: Michigan courts may enforce agreements aimed at promoting marriage and keeping spouses together if it is fair, as seen in Skaates v. Kayser (2020).
- Encouraging Divorce: Postnuptial agreements incentivizing divorce, as seen in Skaates v. Kayser (2020), have been invalidated for encouraging separation.
- Duress: A contract can be considered unenforceable if signed under duress. However, merely fearing financial ruin doesn’t suffice to prove economic duress; the coercing party must also show that it acted unlawfully. See Skaates v. Kayser (2020).
- Disclosure: In Skaates v. Kayser (2020), parties are required to fully disclose their assets when entering a marital agreement.
Asset and Property Rights
Capacity to Contract
- Common law disability of married women to contract is abolished [1] .
Wife’s Separate Property
- A married woman can contract regarding her separate property.
- She can enforce the contract, recover damages, or seek legal remedies.
- She is personally liable for the contract; judgments can be satisfied from her separate property.
- The husband is not liable for his wife’s contract related to her separate property unless he is a surety, co-signor, or guarantor [2] .
Estate Planning and Inheritance
Non-Probate Transfer on Death
- Non-Probate Transfer on Death: Certain instruments, such as insurance policies, contracts, deeds, etc., allow non-probate transfers upon death.
- Beneficiary Designation: The decedent can designate beneficiaries for money or benefits, which are then paid or transferred after death.
- Cessation of Payment: Payments under the instrument may stop upon the death of the involved parties before payment or demand.
- Property Transfer: Property controlled or owned by the decedent can be passed on to a designated person.
- Creditors’ Rights: This section does not affect creditors’ rights under other laws [3] .
