Rhode Island Premarital Agreement

RHODE ISLAND PREMARITAL AGREEMENT

R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 15-17-1 through 15-17-11

COMPLETION AND REVIEW GATE

Party A counsel: [________________________________]

Party B counsel: [________________________________]

First complete draft delivered to Party A: [__/__/____]

First complete draft delivered to Party B: [__/__/____]

Party A disclosure delivered: [__/__/____]

Party B disclosure delivered: [__/__/____]

Planned marriage date: [__/__/____]

Execution date: [__/__/____]

☐ Each Party received the final Agreement and every attached schedule before signing.

☐ Each Party had a meaningful opportunity to review and negotiate the Agreement with separate counsel.

☐ Each Party supplied a current written statement of assets and full financial information concerning earnings, property, and financial obligations.

☐ Material valuations, tax issues, retirement benefits, business interests, trusts, estate rights, and property outside Rhode Island were separately reviewed where applicable.

☐ No threat, concealed information, withheld schedule, wedding deadline, or undisclosed side promise is being used to obtain a signature.

STOP: Do not sign if a schedule is missing, a material fact is disputed, either Party wants more information, or either Party wants more time or advice.

1. PARTIES, PURPOSE, AND EFFECTIVE DATE

This Premarital Agreement ("Agreement") is signed on [__/__/____] by:

Party A: [FULL LEGAL NAME], residing at [ADDRESS]

Party B: [FULL LEGAL NAME], residing at [ADDRESS]

The Parties contemplate legal marriage to each other on or about [__/__/____]. They make this Agreement in contemplation of that marriage and intend Rhode Island law to govern its construction, subject to mandatory law governing a person, asset, plan, third party, or proceeding.

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-2, a premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both Parties; consideration is not required. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-4, it becomes effective upon marriage.

If the contemplated marriage does not occur, this Agreement does not become effective as a premarital agreement.

2. ATTACHED ASSET STATEMENTS AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

2.1 Attached Statements

Party A's statement of assets and financial disclosure is attached as Schedule A. Party B's is attached as Schedule B. The Parties choose these schedules to create a usable execution-time disclosure record; § 15-17-2 itself does not require an annexed asset statement. Each schedule must identify, with current values or good-faith estimates:

• Real and personal property;
• Cash, securities, digital assets, and financial accounts;
• Business, partnership, trust, and contingent interests;
• Retirement, deferred-compensation, equity-compensation, and insurance interests;
• Earnings, income, and material expected income;
• Mortgages, taxes, loans, guarantees, support obligations, litigation exposure, and other financial obligations; and
• The valuation date, source, method, and any material uncertainty.

2.2 Disclosure Acknowledgments

Each Party acknowledges that the Party:

☐ Reviewed the other Party's complete schedule and supporting information requested by that Party or counsel.

☐ Asked all questions the Party considered necessary and received responses before signing.

☐ Identified any disputed, estimated, contingent, jointly owned, or difficult-to-value item.

☐ Is not relying on an oral financial representation omitted from this Agreement and its attached schedules.

2.3 No Generic Disclosure Waiver

This template does not include a waiver of additional disclosure. R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-6 links execution-time unconscionability to fair and reasonable disclosure, an express written waiver of additional disclosure, and adequate knowledge. Any proposed waiver must be drafted separately by counsel, expressly identify the disclosure already provided and the additional information knowingly waived, and remain attached to the complete signed writing. A waiver should not replace usable asset statements and financial schedules.

2.4 Changes Before Signing or Marriage

Each Party will promptly disclose a material change occurring before execution in a dated written supplement annexed to the Agreement with enough time for review. If counsel wants an obligation covering changes after execution but before marriage, state its scope, materiality threshold, delivery method, and consequence here rather than using an arbitrary percentage or deadline:

[________________________________]

3. AGREED PROPERTY CLASSIFICATION

R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-3(a)(1)-(3) permits the Parties to contract about rights and obligations in property, management and control, and disposition upon separation, dissolution, death, or another identified event.

The labels in this Agreement allocate rights between the Parties. They do not by themselves bind creditors, taxing authorities, retirement plans, insurers, business entities, trustees, title holders, or other third parties.

3.1 Party A Agreement Separate Property

Property identified for Party A in Schedule A, together with the following traceable proceeds, replacements, income, appreciation, or agreed categories, will be Party A's separate property under this Agreement:

[________________________________]

3.2 Party B Agreement Separate Property

Property identified for Party B in Schedule B, together with the following traceable proceeds, replacements, income, appreciation, or agreed categories, will be Party B's separate property under this Agreement:

[________________________________]

3.3 Shared Property by Agreement

The following property, accounts, acquisitions, contributions, or categories will be treated as shared property between the Parties under this Agreement:

[________________________________]

3.4 Earnings, Income, and Appreciation

Complete each material category. Do not rely on title alone or on an unstated presumption when labor, retained business earnings, distributions, debt reduction, or mixed contributions may be involved.

3.5 Joint Title, Commingling, and Reclassification

Effect of joint title: [________________________________]

Effect of commingling while an asset remains traceable: [________________________________]

Effect of shared funds or labor applied to separate property: [________________________________]

Method for later reclassification: [________________________________]

The Parties will document any intended gift, loan, contribution, reimbursement right, or reclassification involving a material asset. The record should identify the asset, source of funds, ownership after the transaction, and valuation method.

4. MANAGEMENT, TRANSFERS, AND RECORDS

Party A's authority over Party A Agreement Separate Property: [________________________________]

Party B's authority over Party B Agreement Separate Property: [________________________________]

Approval required for shared-property transactions: [________________________________]

Accounts and titles to be maintained: [________________________________]

Records and statements to be retained: [________________________________]

Treatment of loans, gifts, or transfers between the Parties: [________________________________]

Joint title, survivorship, beneficiary status, and transfer consequences must be confirmed in the controlling deed, account, plan, policy, trust, or other instrument. This Agreement does not substitute for a required third-party consent or transfer document.

5. FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AND TAX MATTERS

5.1 Existing Obligations

Each Party's existing mortgages, loans, taxes, guarantees, support obligations, and contingent liabilities must appear in Schedule A or B. Between the Parties, responsibility is allocated as follows:

5.2 Obligations During Marriage

Individually incurred obligations: [________________________________]

Household obligations: [________________________________]

Jointly signed obligations: [________________________________]

Business obligations and guarantees: [________________________________]

An allocation between the Parties does not release a Party from an obligation to a creditor, create a lien or defense obligation, authorize self-help, or bind a creditor that is not a Party. A documented reimbursement term should identify the triggering payment, proof required, calculation, and due date.

5.3 Tax Matters

The Parties will make filing and reporting elections when returns are prepared with current tax advice. This Agreement does not determine a taxing authority's treatment.

Allocation of tax liabilities, refunds, estimated payments, audits, and professional fees: [________________________________]

Tax treatment of transfers, support, businesses, retirement assets, and death provisions reviewed by: [________________________________]

6. SPOUSAL SUPPORT

R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-3(a)(4) permits modification or elimination of spousal support. Select one option only after each Party receives separate advice about the provision and its foreseeable operation:

☐ Rights reserved. This Agreement does not modify or eliminate either Party's right to seek spousal support under law applicable when relief is requested.

☐ Mutual waiver. Each Party waives spousal support from the other, subject to R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-6 and a court's determination of validity and enforceability.

☐ Custom provision. Spousal support is modified as stated in Schedule C, including amount or formula, duration, termination events, assumptions, tax treatment, and any security, subject to R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-6.

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-6(c), if a support modification or elimination causes public-assistance eligibility at separation or dissolution, a court may require support only to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility. No other later-circumstances override is promised by this template.

7. DEATH, ESTATE, INSURANCE, AND RETIREMENT PROVISIONS

R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-3(a)(3), (5), and (6) permits provisions concerning disposition at death, wills or trusts used to carry out the Agreement, and ownership or disposition of life-insurance death benefits.

Select and describe only provisions reviewed by estate, tax, and benefits counsel:

☐ No death-right waiver is made in this Agreement.

☐ Party A makes only the specific provision or waiver stated in Schedule D: [________________________________]

☐ Party B makes only the specific provision or waiver stated in Schedule D: [________________________________]

☐ Will, trust, or transfer-on-death obligation: [________________________________]

☐ Life-insurance ownership and beneficiary obligation: [________________________________]

☐ Residence, occupancy, purchase-option, or buyout provision: [________________________________]

☐ Retirement-plan provision, subject to plan terms and any separately required consent: [________________________________]

This Agreement does not itself change a beneficiary designation, plan election, deed, transfer-on-death registration, will, trust, or entity record. Schedule D must identify every separate instrument, consent, disclosure, funding step, responsible professional, and deadline needed for the intended result.

8. CHILDREN AND FAMILY MATTERS

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-3(b), a premarital agreement may not adversely affect a child's right to support. Accordingly:

• This Agreement does not determine or limit child support;
• This Agreement does not predetermine parentage, custody, decision-making, parenting time, relocation, or a child's best interests; and
• Any provision interpreted to adversely affect a child's support right is not intended to be enforced to that extent.

Optional allocation between the Parties of agreed child-related expenses beyond any required support, subject to later court review: [________________________________]

9. VOLUNTARINESS AND ENFORCEMENT RECORD

Each Party states that the Party:

☐ Is signing voluntarily and may decline to sign.

☐ Has capacity to understand the Agreement.

☐ Received and reviewed the final Agreement and every attached schedule.

☐ Had a meaningful opportunity for independent legal advice and is identified with separate counsel above.

☐ Understands the property, support, death, and dispute provisions selected.

☐ Has not relied on an undisclosed promise about marriage, the wedding, property, support, inheritance, or enforcement.

☐ Has completed or crossed out every blank affecting the Party's rights.

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-6, the Party seeking to have the Agreement held unenforceable bears the burden and must prove by clear and convincing evidence both involuntary execution and execution-time unconscionability together with the subsection's disclosure, written-waiver, and knowledge conditions. The court decides unconscionability as a matter of law.

If the marriage is determined to be void, R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-7 permits enforcement only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.

10. AMENDMENT AND REVOCATION

After marriage, R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-5 permits amendment or revocation only by a written agreement signed by both Parties; consideration is not required.

This Agreement may not be amended by unilateral notice or an unsigned oral understanding. Counsel should prepare any amendment or revocation and coordinate affected estate, title, beneficiary, tax, retirement-plan, trust, and business instruments.

11. INTERPRETATION AND DISPUTE ADMINISTRATION

Construction clause: Rhode Island law governs construction of this Agreement, subject to mandatory law governing a person, asset, plan, third party, or proceeding.

Notice address for Agreement-related communications: [________________________________]

Optional good-faith meeting or mediation procedure that will not delay court relief or a filing deadline: [________________________________]

Court and county, subject to jurisdiction and venue law when a proceeding is filed: [________________________________]

No arbitration clause, jury waiver, automatic attorney-fee award, liability cap, bond waiver, cure period, force-majeure clause, predetermined injunction, or automatic specific-performance remedy is included. Any proposed dispute addendum requires separate current-law review and may not displace nonwaivable family-law issues or court authority.

If a provision is unenforceable, the Parties request enforcement of remaining provisions only to the extent a court determines that the Agreement and remaining terms may lawfully operate. This clause does not direct a court to rewrite a material bargain.

12. COMPLETE AGREEMENT, COPIES, AND SIGNING METHOD

This Agreement and Schedules A-D state the Parties' complete premarital financial agreement. No recital, heading, schedule, or drafting label overrides Rhode Island's statutory enforcement standards.

Each Party will receive a complete signed copy, including every attached schedule and incorporated supplement, promptly after execution.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-17-2 requires a writing signed by both Parties and does not state a notarization or annexed-asset-statement requirement. The optional acknowledgments and attached financial schedules below are evidentiary safeguards chosen by the Parties. Use counterparts or electronic signatures only after both counsel confirm that the complete signed writings, attached schedules, and every affected implementation instrument satisfy current signature and evidentiary requirements.

13. SIGNATURES

PARTY A

I have read this Agreement and all attached schedules. I sign voluntarily before the contemplated marriage.

Signature: ________________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

PARTY B

I have read this Agreement and all attached schedules. I sign voluntarily before the contemplated marriage.

Signature: ________________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

Optional Separate Notary Acknowledgment — Party A

State of Rhode Island )

County of __________ )

On [DATE], before me, [NOTARY NAME], personally appeared [PARTY A], who proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification to be the person whose name is signed above and acknowledged executing this Agreement voluntarily for its stated purposes.

Notary signature: ________________________________

Commission expiration: [________________________________]

Optional Separate Notary Acknowledgment — Party B

State of Rhode Island )

County of __________ )

On [DATE], before me, [NOTARY NAME], personally appeared [PARTY B], who proved to me through satisfactory evidence of identification to be the person whose name is signed above and acknowledged executing this Agreement voluntarily for its stated purposes.

Notary signature: ________________________________

Commission expiration: [________________________________]

SCHEDULE A — PARTY A ASSET STATEMENT AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Other financial obligations, guarantees, support duties, contingent interests, claims, and material uncertainties: [________________________________]

Party A initials: ________ Party B initials: ________

SCHEDULE B — PARTY B ASSET STATEMENT AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Other financial obligations, guarantees, support duties, contingent interests, claims, and material uncertainties: [________________________________]

Party A initials: ________ Party B initials: ________

SCHEDULE C — PROPERTY, DEBT, EARNINGS, APPRECIATION, REIMBURSEMENT, AND SUPPORT ELECTIONS

Party A initials: ________ Party B initials: ________

SCHEDULE D — OPTIONAL DEATH PROVISIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUMENTS

Complete only after estate, tax, benefits, title, and other relevant counsel review. Identify each right reserved, waived, or replaced; the disclosure and consequence; and every separate instrument needed.

Party A initials: ________ Party B initials: ________