Q. I am getting married in two weeks to a woman who is originally from the Dominican Republic and is not an American citizen.  I am unsure if we have enough time to prepare a prenuptial agreement.  My fiancé’s English is not the best and from what I understand, we would also need to have someone help her understand what the prenuptial agreement says.

If we have time to prepare it in the next two weeks, would it be enforceable in the event of a divorce in Massachusetts, or would I be better off having a postnuptial agreement?  What if my fiancé refuses to sign a postnuptial agreement after marriage?

A. Your best option is to postpone the wedding!

You will have trouble finding a lawyer who can prepare a prenuptial agreement for you in such a short timeframe especially given the holiday season. Even in the best of times, I will not represent someone in a prenuptial agreement unless negotiations start three months before the wedding.

If you can find a lawyer to draft the agreement and an interpreter to work with your fiancé and her lawyer (yes she needs her own lawyer and if she cannot afford one, you should pay her lawyer’s fees) so that she understands everything, the fact that it is signed just before the wedding is not, per se, a reason for a prenuptial agreement to be unenforced in Massachusetts. If you each make full and accurate disclosure of all of your assets, liabilities and income and if the agreement is structured in a way that is deemed fair and reasonable at the time it is signed and conscionable at the time of enforcement, it will be upheld regardless of when it is signed.

You are correct that the danger in agreeing to a post nuptial after the wedding is what happens if she never signs?  Is it so important to you that you would be prepared to divorce her if she doesn’t sign a post nuptial agreement by a certain date?

I have another suggestion which works if you are only looking to protect a potential future inheritance.  If a trust is created so that any inheritance you might receive goes into the trust with independent trustees controlling your access, you can effectively keep the inheritance out of the marital estate.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com