Three documents under one name
A prenuptial agreement is signed before marriage, a postnuptial agreement during it, and a separation agreement when spouses are living apart or preparing to. In New York, agreements of these kinds generally share strict signing and acknowledgment formalities, and courts can review them for fairness. A separation agreement can also carry into a later divorce, and its terms often become part of the judgment. Knowing which document you have, or need, shapes everything that follows. Couples in a long-term relationship who never married sometimes use a cohabitation agreement instead, which follows ordinary contract principles.
What these agreements can and cannot settle
Spouses have broad freedom to decide how property will be divided and whether maintenance will be paid, subject to court review. Terms about children are different: a court keeps the authority to decide custody and support based on the child's needs, whatever the parents agreed. Marital agreements can also address estate rights, including a surviving spouse's right to claim a share of the other's estate, which many couples never think about. Bring any existing agreement, wills, trust documents, and recent financial statements.
Reviewing an agreement you already have
Many people come to us with an agreement signed years ago and a question about whether it still applies. We look at how it was signed, whether disclosure was adequate, how circumstances have changed since, and how it interacts with any later documents. If you are being asked to sign a new one, we review it before you sign rather than after. Either way, you leave knowing what the document likely does and where it is open to question. Agreements drafted in another state or country raise their own questions about which law applies, and we look at that as well. Spouses who reconciled after signing a separation agreement should also check whether the reconciliation affected it.
