STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2151

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Assemblyman GREEN)

ADOPTED: MARCH 21, 2013

      This floor amendment provides that only premarital and pre-civil union agreements entered into on or after the effective date of the bill (immediately upon enactment), or entered into before the effective date but voluntarily revised by the parties on or after that effective date would be subject to its provisions. 

      Thus, premarital and pre-civil union agreements entered into before the effective date would remain subject to the current law, which permits agreements to be set aside if deemed, at the time of enforcement, to be “unconscionable.”  See R.S.37:2-32, subsection c. and R.S.37:2-38, subsection b. 

      Only new agreements, or older agreements with new revisions, would be subject to the underlying bill’s new standard of unconscionability: such agreements could not be deemed unconscionable unless determined to be unconscionable when executed because the party seeking to set aside the agreement: (1) was not provided full and fair disclosure of the earnings, property, and financial obligations of the other party; (2) did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, any right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party beyond the disclosure provided; (3) did not have, or reasonably could not have had, an adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the other party; or (4) did not consult with independent legal counsel and did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, the opportunity to consult with independent legal counsel.