Should a Prenuptial or Partition Agreement be recorded in Texas?

Texas law provides that a marital partition agreement (postnup) can be recorded with the county records. Whether or not it is recorded will have no impact on its enforceability between the spouses. Texas Family Code states that a premarital agreement and a partition agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and is “enforceable without consideration”. The benefit of recording a prenuptial or partition agreement is that it can limit the ability of a creditor of one spouse to seize the separate assets of the other spouse.

Without recording a prenup or partition agreement, a creditor could potentially argue that a judgment against one spouse can be satisfied against property that would normally be community property.

Some other benefits of a Prenuptial or Partition Agreement include:

• Recording and detailing any special arrangements between both parties
• Detailing each spouse’s percentage of ownership of joint property
• Recording each spouse’s separate property to protect it as separate property
• Ward off extended court proceedings resulting in more expense
• Reducing conflicts during a divorce
• Appointing debt to the appropriate spouse to avoid both spouses sharing liability
• Providing a sense of security
• Protecting the integrity of a business
• Protecting existing assets
• Preventing children in blended families from fighting over family heirlooms

McNamaralawyers.com offers a Prenup Package that includes a short partition agreement that can be signed immediately after marriage and then recorded with the county records. The prenup package also includes a cover letter outlining how to record the document. TexasPrenup.com can record the prenuptial or partition agreement as well.

Contact McNamaralawyers.com if you have any questions about filing or recording a prenuptial or partition agreement in Texas.