A prenuptial agreement is a contract that declares how each spouse's present and future assets are divided should the marriage end. It is a way for people to protect their wealth against future claims due to divorce.

It is a contract entered into (before marriage) between spouses that dictates the division of the couple's property in the event they divorce.

There are also "post-nuptial" agreements which are the same thing but signed after the wedding, while the individuals are married.

It's a contract signed by two people before they get married ("nuptial" means "marriage"; "pre-" is "before"). It usually defines how the marriage will work, what the expectations for each person is, and, most importantly, how property (including money) will be split between them in the event the marriage ends.

Some good answers already, but I'd like to add some additional perspective.

Marriage is, legally, a contract. The government defines what the default terms of the contract are going to be. Sometimes the people who want to marry would like to alter the default rules, and they do this by entering into a separate written agreement.

The written agreement can be drafted and executed at any time. But it is often drafted prior to the marriage. If the agreement is drafted before the marriage, it is called a prenuptial agreement ("nuptial" means marriage, "prenuptial" means before marriage).

Some things the couples might like to have a written agreement about:

What happens to premarital debts?

What happens to property either spouse gains during the marriage?

Can either spouse unilaterally sell co-owned assets, or do they need consent of the other spouse?

How much alimony should be paid if there's a divorce?

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to add tothis a prenup also provides tighter conditions on what terms lead to the contract being executed in the event of a divorce and if effectively prevents " no fault divorce"

ie: if one of the pertner is commiting adultery and this can be proven to court standards theoffending party wavers their right in said prenup if the partner decides ot file for divorce over it. aka: they get nothing if there was some sort of asset distribution.

also worth noting that if you want a prenup to hold it court it should be done well in advance, it should involve both parties lawyers and witnesses and even go as far as recording the signing meeting: this is to defuse any claims of " signed under duress" as this will VOID the prenup.(and yes you might argue this is paranoid, but you wouldnt be looking to get a prenup if you didnt have anythnig to lose so cover your bases.)

I'm a lawyer. Much of what you said is almost correct legal jargon, but very little of it matches my understanding of the law. But I'll grant that my legal education focused on Louisiana, so perhaps the legal jargon and rules are simply different in your jurisdiction.

When you say "provides tighter conditions on what terms lead to the contract being executed in the event of a divorce" what do you mean by this? As I understand the term, to "execute" a contract is to bring it into existence, usually by signing it. So a prenuptial agreement would be executed long before divorce. Also, a prenuptial agreement might have terms that trigger in the event of a divorce; but a prenuptial agreement just as often has terms that govern the marriage prior to divorce as well.

When you say it prevents "no fault divorce," what do you mean? I am unaware of any jurisdictions that allow parties to contract out of the option for a no-fault divorce. Even Louisiana, which uniquely has "covenant marriage" programs designed to limit divorce, allows no-fault divorces after a lengthy waiting period.

I don't understand what you are trying to say in your second paragraph. Are you just noting that a prenuptial agreement might provide that an adulterous party will face penalties in the event of a divorce? A prenuptial agreement might indeed have such a provision, but it might not. In general, parties have plenty of leeway to structure their marriage contract so long as their agreement doesn't offend public policy in some way (e.g., disavowing paternity of children from the marriage or condoning one-sided adultery).

As for your last paragraph, the "well in advance" bit seems unnecessary. You'll want to involve attorneys to make sure the agreement is enforceable. Depending on your jurisdiction's rules, you may also need to involve notaries and/or witnesses (Louisiana, for example, requires either an "authentic act" or signatures acknowledged in court https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2011/cc/cc2331). But, unless there's some jurisdiction-specific rule I'm unaware of, there's no reason the contract needs to be prepared far before the marriage; people can freely modify their marriage by contract even after they have been married.

i defer expertise to you on the matter, as i might have worded some of the ideas poorly.

on the "executed" bit i meant ot say voided.

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