Marriage – Postnuptial Agreements – Alaska

Title 25, Chapter 25.15, Section 100 (25.15.100). Married person may contract or incur liabilities.

A married person may make contracts and may incur liabilities, and the contracts and liabilities may be enforced by or against the person to the same extent and in the same manner as if the person were unmarried.

Section 25.15.110. Laws imposing civil disabilities upon married persons repealed.

All laws that impose or recognize civil disabilities upon a married person that are not imposed or recognized as existing as to the other spouse are repealed. For any unjust usurpation of property or natural rights a married person has the same right to appeal individually to all courts for redress that the other spouse has.

Title 13, Chapter 13.12, 13.12.213. Waiver of right to elect and of other rights.

(a) The right of election of a surviving spouse and the rights of the surviving spouse to homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, or to any of them, may be waived, wholly or partially, before or after marriage, by a written contract, agreement, or waiver signed by the surviving spouse.

(b) A surviving spouse’s waiver is not enforceable if the surviving spouse proves that

(1) the surviving spouse did not execute the waiver voluntarily; or
(2) the waiver was unconscionable when it was executed and, before execution of the waiver, the surviving spouse

(A) was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the decedent;
(B) did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, a right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the decedent beyond the disclosure provided; and
(C) did not have, or reasonably could not have had, an adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the decedent.

(c) An issue of unconscionability of a waiver is for decision by the court as a matter of law.

(d) Unless it provides to the contrary, a waiver of “all rights,” or equivalent language, in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse or a complete property settlement entered into after or in anticipation of separation or divorce is a waiver of all rights of elective share, homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance by each spouse in the property of the other and a renunciation by each of all benefits that would otherwise pass to the spouse from the other by intestate succession or by virtue of a will executed before the waiver or property settlement.

Disclaimer: This law summary is not legal advice. If you are not an attorney, you should consult an attorney about serious legal matters.