Texas Divorce Attorney Blog
The short answer is “yes.” Texas Courts tend to enforce prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements. Section 4 of the Texas Family Code states that Courts should enforce marital agreements unless the party trying to invalidate the agreement can prove the following:
- The party did not sign the agreement voluntarily; or
- The agreement was unconscionable when it was signed and, before signing the agreement, that party: (a) was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property of financial obligations of the other party; (b) did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, any right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party beyond the disclosure provided; and (c) did not have, or reasonably could not have had, adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the other party.
Should you stand to inherit family money, you should know that any inheritance is your separate property. So, your spouse is not entitled to any funds you have inherited or were gifted from your family whether before or after marriage. However, a prenup is still encouraged. The reason being is that should you make income off your inheritance, invest into your community estate, or comingle inheritance with your community income or estate, your spouse will be entitled to a portion of the money- especially if you cannot trace your separate property funds.