Was the Premarital Agreement Executed Voluntarily? A Look at the Evolution of the Infamous "7-Day Rule"

Alleen Markarian

Alleen Markarian, Esq. is an Associate Attorney at Trabolsi I Levy I Gabbard, LLP, a Los Angeles-based Family Law firm. She graduated from Pepperdine Law School in 2016, earning both a J.D. and a Certificate in the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Ms. Markarian has practiced exclusively in the field of Family Law since passing the California State Bar examination in December 2016.

Acommon question when a divorce case involves a premarital agreement is whether the parties executed the agreement voluntarily. California family law practitioners have been contemplating the following questions for over the last two decades:

• Did the parties have independent legal representation during the negotiation and execution of their premarital agreement?
• When was the first draft of the agreement presented to the other party?
• Did the party who is challenging enforcement of the agreement have seven days between first being presented with the agreement and its execution thereof?
• Were there material changes to the agreement within that seven-day period?
• Does the seven-day rule apply if both parties are represented?
• Does the seven-day rule commence from the first draft or the final draft being presented to the other party?