Are postnuptial agreements different from prenuptial agreements?

Differences in What The Agreements Can Cover

Prenuptial agreements, which are actually called premarital agreements in Nevada law, are governed by the Premarital Agreements Act in NRS 123A, especially NRS 123A.050. Premarital agreements can cover a wide variety of areas, including whether community property laws apply, control of assets, inheritance rights upon the death of a spouse, and alimony.

Postnuptial agreements (also called postmarital agreements) are governed by NRS 123.080, which only allows married couples to contract around property.

It is clear that parties can do much more in a premarital agreement than in a postmarital agreement. Most importantly, in postmarital agreements, couples cannot make an agreement regarding alimony or spousal support.

A postmarital agreement that contains agreements about things besides property, especially agreements about alimony, is likely to be void and unenforceable. See, for instance, Cord v. Neuhoff, 573 P.2d 1170, 1172, 94 Nev. 21, 24 (Nev. 1978).

Differences in the Situation

Postmarital agreements have to address the parties in a different situation.

For instance, a married couple will likely have already acquired community property that needs to be divided, which is not an issue in premarital agreements. While premarital agreements often confirm property as the separate property of one party, postmarital agreements may need to transmute property from community property to separate property.

The differences in the applicable law and parties’ circumstances mean that postnuptial agreements should be drafted separately from premarital agreements. You cannot just change the word ‘pre’ to ‘post’ in a prenuptial agreement and think everything will be okay.