A prenuptial agreement is usually drawn up between citizens with significant savings, as they wish to protect their property from encroachment by spouses in a divorce. This document should be compiled exclusively by a notary, after which it is signed at the conclusion of official relations. But even if all the requirements are met, a marriage contract may be invalidated for various reasons. For this, the content of this document is evaluated, as it may violate the rights of citizens or contain information that contradicts the requirements of the law.
Legislative regulation
A marriage contract is drawn up and signed by citizens before the direct conclusion of the marriage. After signing, it enters into legal force, but is valid only until it becomes clear that its points violate the law or the interests of any spouse.
In Art. 44 SK contains the basic rules on the basis of which recognition of the marriage contract is invalid. Additionally, the provisions of Art. 166-181 Art. GK. Here are the reasons for the presence of which the document is recognized as invalid or void.
The processes of amendment, termination and invalidation of a marriage contract are carried out exclusively in court. The judge must study all the features of this agreement. Only one condition may be recognized as invalid by him, and not the entire document.
Annulment of marriage
Based on Art. 30 of the UK there is the possibility of invalidating a direct marriage altogether, since in fact citizens are not husband and wife. The following nuances are taken into account:
- if one of the spouses did not know about the fictitious nature of the marriage or violations of the law, then the judge can take this moment into account, after which some conditions of the marriage contract are recognized as valid;
- a marriage is usually invalidated if a man marries with an official wife;
- at the same time as contesting the marriage, the provisions of the prenuptial agreement are studied.
Such situations are quite rare.
Violation of interests of one party
The existence of conditions that put a wife or husband in a disadvantage may be a good reason for invalidating a marriage contract. Such information is prescribed in Art. 42 SC, since the provisions of this document should not infringe on the rights of citizens to a critical state.
The judge independently determines how infringed upon the rights of the plaintiff. These situations include:
- Housing remains the property of the husband, although the common means of the spouses were used for the purchase;
- the wife does not have her own property, and also children remain with her after the divorce, but all the property becomes the property of the man.
Since the main purpose of the contract is to regulate the property relations of citizens, the tasks of the judge include assessing the property status of each citizen.
Legislation violated
Invalidation of a marriage contract is considered a simple process if the text contains information that violates certain legal requirements. This fact is given in Art. 168 Civil Code. The main such violations include:
- when buying a home, the funds of the capital were used, therefore it is not allowed that the property remains in the property of one of the spouses after the divorce, since the children must be the owners of a certain share of the property;
- other means of the state were used to purchase the object, for example, in the framework of assistance to young families, therefore, real estate is executed in equal shares for spouses, which makes it impossible to transfer the apartment to only one person after the termination of official relations.
It is not difficult to challenge such an agreement, as there is evidence that its points violate the terms of the law.
Declaring the transaction imaginary
Based on Art. 170 CC, an imaginary transaction is represented by the conclusion of a contract for the sake of appearance only, but in reality it is fictitious. For this, the judge must have good reason.
For example, the contract states that after the divorce, all property is transferred to the wife. In the future, her husband will have financial problems, as a result of which creditors insist on the forced sale of his property. To prevent the property from being sold at the auction, the spouses make a decision to terminate the official relationship, as a result of which all the values become the property of the woman.
Under such conditions, the man and the supervisory authorities have the right to file a lawsuit in court so that such a transaction is declared invalid.
Incapable participants
Recognition of a marriage contract is invalid if there is evidence that at the time of its signing one of the participants was legally incompetent. This moment is prescribed in Art. 171 CC.
Legal capacity is represented by the citizen's ability to think sensibly and evaluate the consequences of his actions. People with different mental disabilities may be recognized as an incompetent judge. If there is evidence that at the time of signing the contract the person was not aware of his actions, then the contract is invalid.
This process requires evidence of the incapacity of the woman or man. To do this, you can use:
- certificates from medical institutions;
- testimony of witnesses;
- examination results.
If a citizen is legally incompetent, then all contracts signed by him do not have legal force. All documents must be signed only with the permission of an officially designated trustee.
The party to the transaction is a minor
Even minor citizens can enter into official marriage. Based on Art. 175 CC, all agreements that affect the property interests of a citizen should be signed only with the permission of the parents, if the citizen is less than 18 years old.
For example, a contract was drawn up between a minor girl and a man, on the basis of which the house remains after the divorce the property of the husband. Previously, permission for this process from parents was not obtained. The mother of the wife may file a claim for invalidating the prenuptial agreement. If she can prove that she did not give her consent, the court will satisfy the claims.
Using coercion
A marriage agreement must be drawn up and signed by citizens solely on a voluntary basis. The marriage contract is invalidated in court if there is evidence of the following situations:
- the wife was deceived by a marital swindler, whose main purpose was to receive dishonestly funds belonging to a woman;
- the signing of the contract was carried out under threat or using various violent measures, moreover, such situations are proved by investigators, and a verdict is required to confirm the existence of threats and coercion;
- controversy is necessary in the event of circumstances, for example, an agreement is signed under which the man remains at home and the money is transferred to the woman, but at the time of the dissolution of the marriage there is too little on the account.
All the above facts must be proved by official documents. Especially a lot of difficulties arise due to the participation of marriage scams. They use different ways to influence women, so they voluntarily sign different agreements. Therefore, to prove that indeed a woman was misled is quite difficult.
Limitation period
This period depends on the basis used to invalidate the contract. For example, if a transaction is to be deemed null and void, then the process can be completed within 1 year from the moment one of the spouses ceased to exert pressure on the plaintiff.
The contract is recognized as invalid only for three years from the date of fulfillment of its conditions.
If creditors or other third parties whose rights have been violated apply to the court, then for them the statute of limitations is 10 years.
Procedure for declaring a marriage contract invalid
To complete this process, it is necessary to implement the correct and consistent actions. The contract is canceled only in court. The initiator of the trial may be the husband or wife, as well as third parties whose interests and rights are violated by the content of the existing contract. For example, if a man is declared bankrupt, and on the basis of a prenuptial agreement, all the property belongs to the woman, then it is the creditors who can file a lawsuit.
The procedure is divided into the following steps:
- competently filed a statement of claim;
- Based on this document, the date of the meeting is set;
- the court examines the evidence presented;
- the opinions of both participants are heard;
- a decision is made, and if the court satisfies the requirements of the plaintiff, then the property is divided on the basis of the requirements of the law, and not the conditions of the prenuptial agreement.
The judicial practice of invalidating a prenuptial agreement shows that if the plaintiff really has evidence of various violations, the court satisfies his requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to collect as much evidence as possible of the claims submitted by certificates, testimonies of witnesses and other documents.
How to make a statement of claim?
When drawing up a claim, the following data shall be entered:
- name of the court where the application is transmitted;
- information about the plaintiff and defendant;
- a description of the circumstances of the particular case, which includes the date of registration of the relationship and the preparation of the marriage agreement, and also lists all the violations that are in the text of the document;
- the main violations of the defendant;
- the price of the claim is indicated;
- lists all claims, which include the recognition of a document as invalid and the division of property on the basis of legal requirements;
- a reference is left to the evidence attached to the claim and confirming that all claims are substantiated.
The lawsuit is transferred to the court at the place of residence of the defendant. If the amount of the claim is less than 50 thousand rubles, then you must contact the magistrate’s court, and if the amount exceeds this value, the lawsuit is filed with the district court.
Conclusion
The judicial practice of invalidating a prenuptial agreement shows that this process is possible if the plaintiff has evidence that the transaction violates the requirements of the law or the rights of third parties. There are many reasons to dispute this document.
If the contract is invalid, then the division of property is carried out between the former spouses on the basis of the provisions of the law.