People who go through the bother and expense of entering into prenuptial agreements, sign the agreement with the expectation that the agreement will be enforceable and will give them the future protection that they seek. Fundamentally, we are talking about a contract between competent adults, which should ordinarily be enforceable and not subject to modification. Unfortunately, prenuptial agreements are routinely attacked at the time when party or the other seeks to invoke its terms.

Clients must therefore understand that contracts for goods or services are different than contracts between married people, or between those who plan to be married. In New Jersey, the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case known as Lepis V. Lepis, created the quintessential loophole, enabling potentially endless modifications of family support provisions, regardless of whether they were ordered by the Court or stipulated to by the parties. The only requirement for this review is a significant and relevant change of circumstances.

Such contract-loosening changes are typically required to be unanticipated, substantial and non-temporary. The powder keg language of Lepis reads as follows: "Contract principles have little place in the law of domestic relations." That being said, NJ divorce lawyers must pay close attention to five key points.

First, it is important to note that properly drawn prenuptial agreements are given the initial presumption of validity. By "properly drawn" we mean that the parties were independently represented by counsel, that there was no coercion or duress, that there was an appropriate level of financial disclosure, and that the agreement was essentially fair.

At the time of attempted enforcement by one party, the burden of proof for showing that the agreement is somehow unconscionable is borne by the party seeking to avoid enforcement. Otherwise, the prenuptial agreement should be enforced.

Second, a prenuptial agreement will not be considered to be unconscionable unless it can be shown that enforcement of the agreement will result in a standard of living for any party that is "far below that which was enjoyed before the marriage."

Third, soon after the Supreme Court