By Isaac Ssejjombwe
- Experts agree a prenup can actually be a wise investment, not only because it outlines a couple’s finances, but because it can thwart a costly and contentious divorce if the marriage does not work out.
A prenup is a short form for a prenuptial agreement or pre-marital agreement. In a layman’s language, this is a legally-binding contract that entails how spouses will divide assets in case of a divorce. It is entered by parties prior to their union (marriage).
You might end up losing your property even after signing a prenuptial agreement. This is mainly because some partners can be crafty. Others will include or introduce clauses that give them an upper hand before, during and after your marriage.
However, you can avoid all this by knowing how to draft a proper and legally binding prenup.
Hope Eunice Samanya, the head legal department at Samanya Tuna Ltd, says the rationale for entering a prenup is to enable both parties to select and control many of the legal rights they acquire upon marrying, and what happens when their marriage eventually ends by death or divorce.
Couples enter into a written prenuptial agreement to supersede many of the default marital laws that would otherwise apply in the event of divorce, such as the laws that govern the division of property, retirement benefits, savings, and the right to seek alimony (spousal support) with agreed-upon terms that provide certainty and clarify their marital rights.
Law?
A premarital agreement may also contain waivers of a surviving spouse’s right to claim an elective share of the estate of the deceased spouse and also conditions for guardianship of children.
“These prenup agreements are recognised in various law systems such as in Belgium, United Kingdom, and Netherlands, among others. However, these are not yet recognised in Uganda’s jurisprudence, although there is still hope for the same to be recognised in Uganda in the near future. It is important to note that the proposed Marriage and Domestic Bill of 2017 under objective eight recognises the same (prenutial agreements), however the bill is yet to be passed. This only means that prenups are unenforceable in Uganda,” she says. Click to read more…
