14-03.1 Uniform Premarital Agreement Act - North Dakota Statutes

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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 "notice" of a fact if the person has knowledge of it, receives a
notification of it, or has reason to know that it exists from the facts and
circumstances known to the person.2."Premarital agreement" means an agreement between prospective spouses made in
contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage.3."Property" means an interest, present or future, legal or equitable, vested or
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
or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located.b.The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, lease, consume,
expend, assign, create a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose of,
or otherwise manage and control property.c.The disposition of property upon separation, marital dissolution, death, or the
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
the agreement.f.The ownership rights in and disposition of the death benefit from a life
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
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
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
sought proves that:a.That party did not execute the agreement voluntarily; orb.The agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and, before
execution of the agreement, that party:(1)Was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or
financial obligations of the other party;(2)Did not voluntarily sign a document expressly waiving any right to
disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party
beyond the disclosure provided; and(3)Did not have notice of the property or financial obligations of the other
party.2.If a provision of a premarital agreement modifies or eliminates spousal support and
that modification or elimination causes one party to the agreement to be eligible for
support under a program of public assistance at the time of separation or marital
dissolution, a court, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement, may require the
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
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
be clearly unconscionable, the court may refuse to enforce the agreement, enforce the remainder
of the agreement without the unconscionable provisions, or limit the application of an
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
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
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