In the modern world, there are a huge number of marriages, which, unfortunately, according to statistics, have very little chance of holding out for a long period of time. A frightening percentage of marriages ends in divorce, and this has an effect on how the connection of hearts in an eternal union occurs. Now more and more people are trying to ensure their safety in later life, concluding prenuptial agreements. So they can guarantee themselves that in the event of a divorce they will not be left with anything. What is a prenuptial agreement? And most importantly, is it possible to challenge a marriage contract? This is what will be discussed in this article. Indeed, far from always the conditions of a prenuptial agreement are satisfactory for one of the parties after a certain period of time. That is why there is a judicial opportunity to challenge the marriage contract in the presence of relevant circumstances and reasons. How to do it? What is needed for this? When can this be done? This is what you will learn from this article, which describes in detail whether it is possible to challenge a marriage contract, how to do it and what is the statute of limitations for a decision, as well as many other aspects.
Marriage contract
Before we talk about whether it is possible to challenge a marriage contract, it is necessary to consider what it is. A prenuptial agreement is a bilateral agreement between two persons who marry. This agreement spells out all the conditions of this union, and most importantly - the conditions for a possible division of property and other details that relate to potential divorce. Thus, you can provide yourself with a kind of “airbag” in case your marriage union does not stand the test of time.
But it is worth noting that the conditions that are prescribed in the marriage contract may be contrary to the law or infringe on the rights of one of the participants. Accordingly, in such a situation a conflict is brewing, which can be resolved through the court. So if you were interested in the answer to the question of whether it is possible to challenge the marriage contract, the answer is one hundred percent affirmative. It remains only to figure out exactly how to do this, and this article will help you in this.
Challenging a marriage contract
So, it's time to learn how to challenge a marriage contract. Judicial practice shows that very often people go to court unprepared when they simply do not like a certain point. Naturally, in this case they lose the case, since the challenge is not just the unwillingness of one of the parties to the agreements to comply with a clause that he does not like. Challenging is a serious litigation that requires you to have just as much evidence to enable the court to decide in your favor. Accordingly, as long as the court does not recognize your contract as invalid, it is considered valid, which means that you are obliged to fulfill its conditions. So you can’t just say, “I don’t like this item, I won’t fulfill it”, as this will entail serious consequences. Everything must be decided in court, having prepared very seriously for this.
But it is worth noting that challenging is not an obligation, but only an opportunity, therefore this article deals with cases when one of the parties is not satisfied with the terms of the prenuptial agreement. If both parties are satisfied with the requirements of the agreement, then its terms are simply fulfilled, and the parties disagree with the world.
Void and contested agreement
But you should know a little more details before you can challenge a prenuptial agreement. Experience from practice shows that people who have become familiar with the theory, in practice had a much greater chance of winning a case in court and defending their rights. That is why you should pay attention, for example, to an insignificant prenuptial agreement. This term is often found in subject literature, but how does such an agreement differ from the contested one? The fact is that the contested agreement, which is the subject of this article, has certain conditions that could be violated, which gives rise to challenge it, and the court can decide whether these violations are sufficient to invalidate the agreement. If we are talking about a void contract, then it is worthwhile to understand that such a contract was invalid from the beginning. It is recognized as insignificant under certain conditions, which will be discussed later.
What makes a contract null and void?
Firstly, if this contract was concluded, but not certified by a notary, it does not have legal force. Secondly, the contract cannot be concluded with the participation of an incompetent person. Thirdly, the conditions specified in the contract cannot restrict freedom and violate the legal rights of one of the participants. Fourthly, imaginary contracts concluded do not have legal force, since they, in principle, cannot be considered as any document. Well, fifthly, the contract should not contain conditions that cannot be found there by law. If at least one of these points is present in your case, then your contract is void, and you do not need to challenge it in court, since it had no legal force from the very beginning. If you have already begun to fulfill certain conditions, then you can go to court in order to invalidate all the consequences of fulfilling the terms of the contract. But now a very important question arises: in what case can the contract be challenged?
Grounds for contesting the contract
So, it's time to find out on what grounds you can challenge a marriage contract in court. There are a lot of such conditions, so you should carefully study them before you form your position.
Firstly, challenging a prenuptial agreement becomes possible if you were in varying degrees of incapacity at its conclusion. This includes alcohol or drug intoxication, bouts of illness, high levels of stress, and so on. Accordingly, you can challenge the prenuptial agreement signed during pregnancy, as at this point many women go through serious stress, and their health may not be the best.
Secondly, it is impossible to conclude a marriage contract with incompetent persons in the absence of a trustee. These are most often individuals in whom capacity is partially limited due to their illnesses or conditions. This also includes, for example, alcohol dependence. In this case, when signing a prenuptial agreement, a trustee of a person must be present, who must familiarize himself with the terms of the agreement and give his permission to sign it.
Thirdly, the prenuptial agreement can be challenged if one party was misled by the terms of the transaction, that is, had no idea what exactly is meant by any of the clauses, as well as the legal consequences of the execution of this clause. Naturally, this is a rather controversial point, because many people simply try to pretend that they didn’t understand anything, but you should remember the well-known expression: ignorance of the law does not relieve you of responsibility, so you have to prepare a serious evidence base to convince the court of your right.
Fourth, a prenuptial agreement can be disputed if you have been subjected to physical or psychological abuse to conclude it. At the same time, exactly who used the violence does not play any role: the second party to the contract or third parties.
Fifth, you have every reason to challenge the contract if you were in an unfavorable position, and the other party to the contract took advantage of this to force you to conclude it.
And finally, there is a point according to which you can try to challenge a marriage contract in court if you think that its conditions put you in an extremely unfavorable position. This is a rather controversial point, because any person who sues definitely considers the terms of the contract relating to him unfavorable. Therefore, you will have to provide a lot of evidence to convince the court that you will really find yourself in an unfavorable situation, and the terms of the contract will really be the reason for this.
Challenge process
Now you know that the answer to the question of whether it is possible to challenge a marriage contract in court is positive, so the time has come to act. First of all, you should determine exactly where you need to contact. A prenuptial agreement is civil law, respectively, the fulfillment of its conditions occurs in accordance with civil law. And this means that a civil court will deal with your case. Now it's time to step by step to understand what you need to do if you want to challenge the marriage contract.
Search for grounds
First of all, you should think about the grounds, and think very carefully. Of course, you may have complaints, but not all of them can be calculated as a sufficient basis for consideration before the court. So you should prepare a serious evidence base for each of your foundations, and only then can you think about suing.
Drawing up a statement of claim
The next step - you need to make a competent statement of claim. In it you will have to write down in detail the reasons why you are going to file a lawsuit. It is necessary to indicate there the price of the claim, that is, the approximate value of the disputed property in accordance with the marriage contract, and all circumstances of the case, as well as links to documentary evidence and legislation that, in your opinion, have been violated. Well, of course, you need to complete everything with your claims, that is, what exactly you want to receive after the trial.
Collection of documents
After that, you need to deal with the collection and transfer to the judicial office of all the necessary documents that will be required during the consideration of your claim. This includes documents proving your identity, and your marriage contract, and all receipts, checks, receipts that can be attached to the case file. You also need to include all the documentary evidence that you were able to collect and which will help you win the case in court.
Court
Many people ask if third parties can challenge a prenuptial agreement. Judicial practice shows that this is impossible only if the third party is not the trustee of the legally incapable party to the contract. In the same way, in court, each party to the contract must appear independently, third parties can not file a lawsuit or act as plaintiffs or defendants. Again, the only exception is the trustees of incapacitated citizens. So if you are thinking about whether a bank can challenge a prenuptial agreement, then this cannot be. A bank may apply to one of the parties for the purpose of collecting debt under a prenuptial agreement. You can also use your marriage contract to solve problems with the bank, but third parties cannot dispute your marriage contract.
You need to appeal to a magistrate’s court if you have indicated the price of the claim, less than fifty thousand rubles. If this amount exceeds this limit, then you must apply to the district court. Moreover, in most cases, cases are considered in court at the place of registration of the defendant. If there are any serious circumstances for the plaintiff, the consideration of the case may take place in court at the place of registration of the plaintiff. There are also cases when a case is considered in court at the location of the disputed property.
The court's decision
The final step in this whole chain is to make a decision by the court. There are three scenarios. The first option: the court recognizes the prenuptial agreement, as well as transactions that were concluded in accordance with it, invalid. The second option: the court recognizes the prenuptial agreement and transactions partially invalid, that is, it satisfies the claim for specific points of the contract in question, and this decision does not apply to the remaining items that retain their legal force. Third option: the court rejects the claim. This can happen both due to lack of grounds, and if you decide to challenge the marriage contract after the divorce.
Challenging a contract after a divorce
Many people want to know if it is possible to challenge a marriage contract after a divorce. Yes, this can be done, and judicial practice shows that the lawsuit filed not before or during the divorce proceedings, but after its completion, can also be satisfied. However, disputing a prenuptial agreement has a limitation period of one year. The countdown is carried out from the moment when the party wishing to challenge the marriage contract became aware of the existence of grounds for appropriate action. Therefore, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to challenge a prenuptial agreement after a divorce, sounds like this: yes, it is possible, but only for one year. If you did not meet this deadline, then you will not be able to win the case in court.