Law 531 Week 1 Question Paper

Sem_1 DB#2

QUESTION: What key information will you need to learn in your interview with the client?

To collect key information and learn about the client’s situation, it would be important to ask the following questions. Basic Information:

• What is your purpose of preparing a prenuptial agreement?

• When are you getting married?

• Where are you getting married? Is it the city of your primary residence and where you two are going to settle?

In order to prepare a prenuptial agreement, we must first find out what the client is trying to accomplish by having the agreement. The time and place of their marriage play a key role because these are some of the determinants that would affect the evidentiary presumptions.

Identification of Assets:

These questions can be important because the answers may help clarify the intent and understanding of the parties as to how the property should be handled in the event of a separation. When only one party obtains legal advice, it could potentially lead to an undue influence issue and possibly have an impact on who bears the burden of proving the presumption. “A rebuttable presumption of undue influence arises when one spouse obtains an advantage over another in a community property transaction.” See In re Marriage of Haines, 33 Cal. App. 4th 277, 39 Cal. Rptr. 2d 673 (1995).

• Are you and your partner considered legally married outside of the United States? If yes, in what country and when did you get married? Did you execute any agreements pertaining to your marriage in that country?

Many couples who got married in foreign countries move to this country. As demonstrated in Shaban, 88 Cal. App. 4th 398, 105 Cal. Rptr. 2d 863 (2001), it would be important to know whether or not any contractual agreements exist that were executed outside of the U.S but could govern the couple’s marriage, because such clauses may or may not be admitted as parol