March 8, 2021 – Marriage Contracts: A World of Second Thoughts

“Marriage contracts result in a world of second thoughts.  Often signed with marriage pending, they speak to business at a time when those types of thoughts are foreign to the parties.  Because of this, the negotiation of an agreement is often hasty and ill thought out.  Notwithstanding this, marriage contracts are often of long-lasting effect, both during the marriage and after.  The terms, which might have seemed fair at the time, may also result in seemingly inequitable situations resultant from waivers of spousal support or property claims after a long-term relationship, leaving one party in apparent poverty and without recourse to remedies that he or she might otherwise have on marriage breakdown.”

         Ord v. Ord, 2019 ONSC 1563 (CanLII) at 1