Hawaii law allows for the creation of marital agreements, which are also referred to as “postmarital agreements” or “postnuptial agreements” (they’re all the same). These agreements are permissible under Hawaii Revised Statutes §572-22, which allows married persons to make contracts with their spouse. A marital agreement would control what happens between the parties in a future divorce.
Like premarital agreements, marital agreements can be tailored according to what each couple seeks. Sometimes these are used as “pre-divorce” or separation agreements, setting forth what happens when and if the parties later divorce. These agreements are often titled “Agreement Incident to Divorce,” or “Agreement In Contemplation of Divorce“. Alternatively, some people opt to use postmarital agreements in situations where they had intended to enter into a premarital agreement, but were not able to do so before the wedding.
If you are in either of these situations and would like to discuss options, our Postmarital Questionnaire is below:
Just as with prenuptial agreements, there are limitations to what is enforceable under a marital agreement.
Many people are tempted to draft these types of agreements on their own, to save money. But undertaking agreement of this importance and complexity usually calls for the services of a good family law attorney. Typically, people are having these agreements prepared in order to save many, many thousands of dollars. Therefore, this makes marital agreements something worth investing in to get it done right.
We’re here to help with all aspects of Hawaii family law.
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