Prenuptial Agreements
Marital contracts are agreements entered into by the spouses at three points in time: before the marriage(prenuptial), at the time of the marriage or during the marriage, concerning property, gifts and concessions that they wish to make to each other, present or future. Those who maintain a de facto union or those who, being married, have dissolved the conjugal partnership can also capitulate.
Between 2006 and 2016, in Ecuador, divorces increased by 83.45%. Data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC) in the Yearbook of Vital Statistics: Marriages and Divorces reveal that in 2016 there were 25,468 divorces compared to 13,981 in 2006. The number of marriages fell by 22.01%(74,036 in 2006 and 57,738 in 2016).
The main causes of divorce recorded in 2016 were:
- By mutual agreement: 62.80%(15,995 cases).
- For voluntary and unjustified abandonment: 32.02%(8,157 cases).
- For serious insult or hostile attitude: 895 cases.
- Other grounds: in a smaller number of lawsuits.
Age is important and has a lot to do at the time of making the marriage contracts. Because young people, in the idyll, go to marriage and get married without thinking about anything else but love. But people who have gone through their first marriage and divorce already think seriously; and 90% of divorced people, prior to remarriage, already celebrate marriage contracts.
The basis of every relationship is trust, right…? I marry you because I love you and not because of what you have. The future spouses or spouses should talk honestly and transparently about the economic regime to be established within the marriage. It is an act of maturity, responsibility and protection of the family and children.
People mistakenly think that marital contracts are linked to a fear or a fear that the marriage may end, the breakdown of the relationship; but if that were so, even in such cases, the contracts are convenient. The capitulations are clear ways of knowing what is the destiny of the assets after a divorce.
Everyone must choose the economic regime that governs the marriage. But if you do not choose it at the time of marriage at the Civil Registry, it will be a community of property or community of property. In other words, if you do not say anything at the time of marriage, your marriage will be governed by community property.
The matrimonial capitulations are the patrimonial agreements where, through a public deed, it is said which things I want to be part of the conjugal society and which things I do not want to be part of the conjugal society. The capitulation is a contract in which it can be stipulated that each one can maintain the economic independence.
The capitulations are characterized for being a voluntary, solemn act and are made by means of public deed in a notary’s office. By their nature, they are revocable by the will of the parties; they are modifiable, they can be repealed, but always through a public deed. In law, things are undone in the same way they are done.
They differ from the dissolution of the marital partnership, since the latter can no longer be reestablished once the partnership has been dissolved, but only by remarrying again.
Marital contracts should be prepared by a legal professional with knowledge, experience and practice. Do not hesitate to call or write us.
We put at your disposal our offices in New York City, from where we serve the entire tri-state area(New York, New Jersey and Connecticut), with a team of proven professionals with experience in legalization of documents so that they take full legal and juridical effect in Ecuador, whether in the Civil Registry, Courts of Justice and/or any administrative agency.
We serve in all areas of Family Law, together with a staff of attorneys that seeks to offer a service that is distinguished from what is commonly offered by other lawyers, notaries or improvised persons.