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Unconscionable Prenuptial Agreements In Illinois - Russell D. Knight · BSPE Legal Marketing Podcast

• 0:00
  Unconscionable Prenuptial Agreements in Illinois When couples plan their future together, they rarely stop to consider how a prenuptial agreement could one day be challenged in an Illinois divorce court.
• 0:11
  People entering marriage with significant assets often use prenuptial agreements to protect their wealth, but those agreements don't always hold up the way the wealthier spouse intended.
• 0:20
  A prenuptial agreement, under Illinois law, is a contract between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage that governs the terms of a possible future divorce, as defined by 750 ILCS 10/2.
• 0:35
  These agreements can address an extraordinarily broad range of issues, including property rights, spousal support, asset management, life insurance proceeds, and even the choice of law governing the contract itself.
• 0:46
  The one thing a prenuptial agreement cannot touch, however, is child support, because Illinois law makes clear that a child's right to support cannot be adversely affected by any premarital agreement.
• 0:57
  Because prenuptial agreements cover such a wide scope, Illinois courts will sometimes refuse to enforce them when their terms are so blatantly unfair that they cross the line into unconscionability.
• 1:07
  Illinois courts define unconscionability as the degree of unreasonableness and unfairness of a contract so extreme that a court is compelled to modify or nullify it, as noted in Black's Law Dictionary.
• 1:20
  Under 750 ILCS 10/7, a premarital agreement is unenforceable if the challenging party can prove it was unconscionable when executed and that they were denied fair financial disclosure before signing.
• 1:32
  The challenging party must also demonstrate that they never voluntarily waived their right to financial disclosure in writing and had no adequate knowledge of the other spouse's financial obligations.
• 1:42
  Illinois law recognizes two distinct forms of unconscionability — procedural and substantive — and a prenuptial agreement can be challenged on either ground or a combination of both.
• 1:53
  Procedural unconscionability focuses on how the contract was entered into, including whether terms were hidden, whether bargaining power was wildly unequal, and whether a party could truly understand what they were agreeing to.
• 2:05
  A contract so confusing it is unintelligible to an ordinary person, or signed under circumstances that left one party unable to comprehend what was happening, may be enough to establish procedural unconscionability in Illinois.
• 2:19
  Challenging or defending a prenuptial agreement in an Illinois divorce typically happens early in the proceedings through a Motion for Declaratory Judgment, since the outcome determines nearly every other issue in the case.
• 2:31
  An experienced attorney can evaluate whether the circumstances surrounding your prenuptial agreement meet the demanding legal threshold required to have it declared unconscionable by an Illinois court.
• 2:42
  If you're facing questions about a prenuptial agreement in your divorce, a family law lawyer can walk you through your options under Illinois statute and case law.
• 2:50
  Contact the Law Office of Russell D. Knight, located at 1165 N Clark St #700, Chicago, IL 60610, United States, by calling 773, 334, 6311 to speak with a lawyer or attorney about your prenuptial agreement today.