Unfair Prenuptial Agreements and Immigration

 Posted on May 09, 2024 in Prenuptial Agreements

If your spouse is a U.S. citizen and you needed his or her status to legally enter the country before getting married, you might not have felt like you had much bargaining power when you made your prenuptial agreement. Sadly, many people who need a “fiancee visa” are unfairly – and unlawfully – coerced into signing a one-sided prenuptial agreement. Having a prenuptial agreement that leaves you with nothing and nowhere to go might make you think that you are trapped in your marriage, no matter how poorly your spouse treats you. Fortunately, if you were coerced into signing an unfair prenuptial agreement to protect your immigration status, a Miami, FL divorce lawyer might be able to have the agreement thrown out. 

Was I Coerced into Signing My Prenuptial Agreement? 

This is a common situation for people who immigrate based on their plans to marry a U.S. citizen. You arrive in Miami from your home country and meet up with your fiance, planning to marry in the next 90 days. In fact, your immigration status depends on you getting married to your fiance in the next 90 days. 

That is when your fiance presents you with a prenuptial agreement his lawyer has drafted. The agreement is already written, so you had no input on what it would say. The contract says that if you get divorced, you are not entitled to any of his assets. He already owns the house you will be living in, so you cannot claim any right to the marital residence. You are not ready to start working in the U.S. because you still need to get an education, enroll in job training, or become proficient in English. Or, perhaps the plan is for you to become a homemaker, so you will not have your income at all. The agreement says you will not get any alimony if you divorce. 

If you do not sign it, your fiance says, he will not marry you. If he does not marry you, you will have to return to your home country, which may be dangerous for you. 

This type of situation is almost the very definition of coercion. You were made to feel as if you had no choice but to sign the agreement your fiance created without your input. Unless you arrived with money, you had no chance to find a lawyer of your own to help you negotiate a fair agreement. A prenuptial agreement should be made by both spouses working together and discussing the terms they want. 

If this is what happened to you, there is a good chance the divorce court will not uphold your prenuptial agreement. You should talk with a divorce lawyer about getting your prenuptial agreement thrown out. 

Contact a Miami-Dade County, FL Divorce Lawyer 

Miami Family Law Group, PLLC is committed to helping Miami’s immigrant population get divorced on fair and legal terms. Our dedicated Miami, FL divorce lawyers will do all we can to get your coercive prenuptial agreement dismissed. Contact us at 305-520-7874 for a complimentary consultation.