New Jersey Uniform Premarital and Pre-Civil Union Agreement Act, N.J. Stat. §§ 37:2-31–41, with exact formalities, the November 3, 1988 applicability line, civil-union amendments, the June 27, 2013 enforcement transition, and qualified published appellate decisions.
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formalities
New Jersey
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-33
A New Jersey premarital or pre-civil-union agreement must be in writing, have a statement of assets annexed, and be signed by both parties; it is enforceable without consideration.
New Jersey's formality section expressly requires a statement of assets to be annexed to the agreement, independently of the current enforcement section's full-and-fair-disclosure analysis.
The current unconscionability inquiry lists absence of full and fair disclosure, absence of a voluntary express written waiver of further disclosure, and absence of actual or reasonably available adequate knowledge among its execution-time circumstances.
Shinn held that equitable estoppel could not override statutory unenforceability where a premarital elective-share waiver lacked full disclosure or an adequate waiver of disclosure.
Before execution, Connecticut requires fair and reasonable disclosure of the amount, character, and value of the other party's property, financial obligations, and income for this enforcement safeguard.
The current unconscionability inquiry lists failure to consult independent counsel together with failure voluntarily and expressly to waive, in writing, the opportunity to consult independent counsel.
New Jersey's 2006 civil-union enactment amended sections 37:2-31 through 37:2-41 to cover pre-civil-union agreements prospectively from that enactment's effective date.
The 2013 amendments took effect June 27, 2013 and apply to agreements entered on or after that date and to earlier agreements voluntarily revised on or after that date under section 37:2-37.
Which state's law governs each disputed issue, and is the agreement's choice-of-law clause effective?
02
Where did the parties live, sign, marry, own property, and expect to perform the agreement?
03
Which current statutes and later cases are absent from either source-catalogued package?
04
What execution, counsel, disclosure, waiver, and financial-knowledge evidence can actually be proved?
Every source used on this page
Comparison authorities
The complete state guides contain additional authorities and limitations beyond this focused comparison.
propertystatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-32
New Jersey statutory definitions
New Jersey defines a premarital or pre-civil-union agreement as one between prospective spouses or civil-union partners made in contemplation of and effective upon that relationship, and defines property broadly to include present, future, legal, equitable, vested, contingent, real, personal, income, and earnings interests.
Section 37:2-32 was amended in 2006 for civil unions and in 2013 to remove the former statutory definition of unconscionability.
formalitiesstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-33
New Jersey writing, annexed-assets, and signature requirements
A New Jersey premarital or pre-civil-union agreement must be in writing, have a statement of assets annexed, and be signed by both parties; it is enforceable without consideration.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
financial disclosurestatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-33
New Jersey annexed asset-statement requirement
New Jersey's formality section expressly requires a statement of assets to be annexed to the agreement, independently of the current enforcement section's full-and-fair-disclosure analysis.
Counsel should separately analyze statutory formality, disclosure adequacy, waiver, knowledge, and causation; this record does not treat them as interchangeable.
permitted subjectsstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-34
New Jersey permitted agreement subjects
Permitted subjects include property rights and management, disposition, modification or elimination of support, estate planning, life-insurance benefits, choice of law, and other lawful personal rights and obligations.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
child supportstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-35
New Jersey child-support limitation
A New Jersey premarital or pre-civil-union agreement may not adversely affect a child's right to support.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
effective datestatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-36
New Jersey effect of marriage or civil union
The agreement becomes effective upon marriage or establishment of the civil union.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
amendment revocationstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-37
New Jersey amendment and revocation formalities
After marriage or civil union, amendment or revocation requires a written agreement signed by both parties and is enforceable without consideration.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
New Jersey clear-and-convincing enforcement framework
The challenger bears the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence either involuntary execution or execution-time unconscionability tied to the circumstances listed in subsection c; the court decides unconscionability as a matter of law.
The current framework applies only under the 2013 transition rule; counsel must use the statutory version governing the agreement date.
financial disclosurestatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-38(c)(1)–(3)
New Jersey disclosure, waiver, and knowledge circumstances
The current unconscionability inquiry lists absence of full and fair disclosure, absence of a voluntary express written waiver of further disclosure, and absence of actual or reasonably available adequate knowledge among its execution-time circumstances.
The statutory text uses an 'or' before paragraph (4); this package preserves the listed circumstances without converting them into a different conjunctive or disjunctive test.
independent counselstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-38(c)(4)
New Jersey independent-counsel or written-waiver circumstance
The current unconscionability inquiry lists failure to consult independent counsel together with failure voluntarily and expressly to waive, in writing, the opportunity to consult independent counsel.
The record must distinguish actual consultation from a waiver of the opportunity to consult; application remains tied to unconscionability and the 2013 transition rule.
timingstatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-38(a), (c)
New Jersey timing-rule boundary
New Jersey's Act sets no fixed minimum number of days before the ceremony; chronology may still be evidence relevant to involuntary execution and the execution-time circumstances in section 37:2-38.
Absence of a statutory waiting period is not a safe harbor; licensed counsel must assess the complete voluntariness record.
void marriagestatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-39
New Jersey void-relationship rule
If a marriage or civil union is void, an otherwise qualifying agreement is enforceable only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
effective datestatute
N.J. Stat. § 37:2-41; P.L.1988, c.99
New Jersey 1988 Act applicability
The statutory Act applies to premarital agreements executed on or after November 3, 1988; earlier agreements require New Jersey common-law analysis.
Section 37:2-41 states the prospective rule; appellate decisions identify November 3, 1988 as the effective-date line.
effective datestatute
P.L.2006, c.103, §§ 26–36
New Jersey civil-union amendment history
New Jersey's 2006 civil-union enactment amended sections 37:2-31 through 37:2-41 to cover pre-civil-union agreements prospectively from that enactment's effective date.
Application remains fact-specific and requires current licensed-counsel review.
effective datestatute
P.L.2013, c.72, §§ 1–3
New Jersey 2013 enforcement transition
The 2013 amendments took effect June 27, 2013 and apply to agreements entered on or after that date and to earlier agreements voluntarily revised on or after that date under section 37:2-37.
The amendment removed the former enforcement-time unconscionability branch and changed the statutory definition and enforcement framework; it should not be applied retroactively outside section 3.
financial disclosurecase reporter
In re Estate of Shinn, 394 N.J. Super. 55, 925 A.2d 88 (App. Div. 2007)
New Jersey disclosure and equity limitation
Shinn held that equitable estoppel could not override statutory unenforceability where a premarital elective-share waiver lacked full disclosure or an adequate waiver of disclosure.
Shinn applied the pre-2013 version of section 37:2-38 in an estate context; its equity-follows-law holding is important, but current section 37:2-38 and other applicable probate rules must be analyzed separately.
Steele held that an agreement executed months after marriage was not a statutory premarital agreement and explained that mid-marriage agreements are generally scrutinized as inherently coercive under different doctrine.
Steele is a scope decision, not a ruling that every post-marriage document is automatically void; the agreement type and governing doctrine require counsel analysis.
Steele explains that the 2013 Act would not govern a 1992 agreement and contrasts the 1988 version's separate enforcement-time unconscionability inquiry with the 2013 execution-time framework.
The comparison appears in the court's alternative analysis because Steele first held the post-marriage document was not a premarital agreement.
formalitiesstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36c
Connecticut writing and signature requirements
A Connecticut premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and is enforceable without consideration.
The record should preserve the complete signed agreement and every incorporated schedule.
permitted subjectsstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36d(a)–(b)
Connecticut permitted agreement subjects
Connecticut lists property rights and management, disposition, spousal support, estate planning, insurance, retirement-plan rights, choice of law, and personal rights and obligations as agreement subjects, subject to public policy and criminal statutes.
The retirement-plan provision should be reviewed with any plan-specific consent or federal-law requirements.
child supportstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36d(c)
Connecticut child-related limitations
A Connecticut premarital agreement may not adversely affect a child's right to support, and child care, custody, visitation, and other child-affecting provisions remain subject to judicial review and modification.
Child-related language requires separate review rather than treatment as an ordinary contractual allocation.
effective datestatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36e
Connecticut effect of marriage
A Connecticut premarital agreement becomes effective upon marriage unless the agreement provides otherwise.
The agreement should be checked for a different express effectiveness provision.
amendment revocationstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36f
Connecticut amendment and revocation formalities
After marriage, a Connecticut premarital agreement may be amended or revoked only by a written agreement signed by the parties.
The amended agreement or revocation is enforceable without consideration.
voluntarinessstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36g(a)(1)
Connecticut voluntary-execution safeguard
A Connecticut premarital agreement or amendment is not enforceable if the resisting party proves that it was not executed voluntarily.
Draft history, negotiation timing, communications, counsel records, and signing circumstances can be relevant evidence for counsel to assess.
limitationsstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36g(a)(2), (c)
Connecticut unconscionability timing
Connecticut identifies unconscionability when the agreement was executed or when enforcement is sought, and assigns that issue to the court as a matter of law.
The statute expressly includes an enforcement-time inquiry; the evidence review cannot predict the court's legal determination.
financial disclosurestatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36g(a)(3)
Connecticut financial-disclosure safeguard
Before execution, Connecticut requires fair and reasonable disclosure of the amount, character, and value of the other party's property, financial obligations, and income for this enforcement safeguard.
Schedules and supporting records should distinguish property, obligations, and income rather than collapsing them into a single total.
independent counselstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36g(a)(4)
Connecticut opportunity for independent counsel
Connecticut's enforcement statute asks whether the resisting party was afforded a reasonable opportunity to consult with independent counsel.
The statutory wording concerns a reasonable opportunity; the factual record should not imply representation that did not occur.
public assistancestatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36g(b)
Connecticut public-assistance support safeguard
A court may require support to the extent necessary to avoid public-assistance eligibility caused by a premarital support modification or elimination.
The statute frames this safeguard at separation or marital dissolution.
void marriagestatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-36h
Connecticut void or voidable marriage rule
If the marriage is held void or voidable, an otherwise premarital agreement is enforceable only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.
The provision does not itself predict what relief a court would find necessary.
limitationsstatute
Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 46b-36i–46b-36j
Connecticut limitations and pre-1995 applicability
Connecticut tolls an applicable limitations period during marriage while preserving equitable defenses, and the act does not affect the validity of agreements made before October 1, 1995.
The agreement date should be checked before applying the act's framework.