International Prenups: A World View

• Author: Peter M. Walzer
• Pages: 6-8

6 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org

We don’t know whether Meghan Markle

and Prince Harry entered into a prenup,

but if they had, their lawyers would

have to wrestle with many dicult

issues. Would English law apply to the

prenup? What if they chose to live in another country? At

the time of the “marriage of the century,” this seemed

farfetched. Now it is a reality. Meghan and Harry rst

moved to British Columbia and then moved to California.

If you were the lawyer that drafted the prenup of the

century, would you have anticipated all these moves?

Perhaps this article will help you navigate the dangerous

waters of multijurisdictional agreements the next time you

represent royalty—or anyone else who may be moving to

another state or country after they marry.

Dene the Scope of Your Assignment in Your

Legal Services Agreements

Dening the scope of your duties in a legal services agree-

ment is particularly critical when you are drafting a prenup

with parties who have connections in dierent states and

countries. In particular, you must be clear that you will only

International Prenups

A WORLD VIEW

By PETER M. WALZER

be preparing an agreement that will be enforceable in your

jurisdiction. Although the parties may divorce or die

anywhere in the world, specify that you are drafting the

agreement for your own state or country. You may want to

set forth in your retainer agreement the following conditions

of your representation:

• is agreement is drafted according to the law of this

jurisdiction and it may not be enforceable in another state

or country.

• If I am called as a witness in litigation involving the

agreement, you (the client) agree to pay me for time and

travel at my hourly rate.

• I cannot guarantee the benets provided under the

agreement will actually be paid to you or you would

obtain greater benets under the agreement than they

would be without any agreement.

• You are responsible for the accuracy of your nancial

disclosure.

• Courts do not always follow choice-of-law provisions in a

premarital agreement.

• is premarital agreement may be precluded from being

Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 2, Fall 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof

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