Before You Say ‘I Do’… Sign On The Dotted Line
Alexandra Weaderhorn and Rachel Marks
Originally published on JewishPress.com
A number of our Orthodox clients recently signed prenuptial agreements. What made it somewhat unusual was that each of the agreements contained different get provisions but all were designed for the same purpose.
The goal of each was that in the unfortunate event of the dissolution of the marriage, the husband would give and the wife would accept a get. However, the details of how that would be achieved differed in each prenuptial agreement. The reason was that each client was being advised by a different rabbi. They were from different communities and subscribed to different hashkafas as to how an appropriate document meant to avoid an agunah situation was to be drafted.
We were able to take into account the wishes and concerns of each client while crafting a document unique to the individual situation while achieving the common goal of avoiding situations of get refusal.
Currently there is an excellent prenup available to the public. Since Rabbi Mordechai Willig in 1994 drafted the Beth Din of America Prenuptial Agreement, it has become the most widely used Jewish prenup with the goal of avoiding the creation of agunot. In the Beth Din of America Prenup, commonly known as the RCA or BDA Prenup (or simply the Prenup), the parties sign a binding arbitration agreement obligating them to appear at the Beth Din of America for the giving and receiving of a get.