If executed properly, a prenuptial agreement can protect a person's assets and income in the event of divorce. But writing up a prenuptial agreement that is valid in Arizona as well as other states isn't always easy to do because of varying state laws. That's why a new set of rules has been drafted by the Uniform Law Commission.

The Uniform Law Commission is made up of many lawyers, judges, professors and lawmakers from throughout the country. The purpose of the commission is to establish uniform laws that states can choose to adopt so that there is consistency from state to state. This is especially important to the area of family law, which is almost entirely governed by individual state laws.

Recently, the commission focused on a set of uniform rules for prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements. The hope is that all the states will adopt the new laws, so that agreements considered valid in one state will also be upheld in other states.

The commission decided to act on the issue after a study revealed that there are many gaps in the way states treat prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements. Although post-nuptial agreements are fairly rare, the commission would like to make sure both types of agreements are entered into more simply -- and more equitably.

Essentially, the commission studied the best practices of each state and came up with a set of rules that lay out how to draft the agreements and how to handle challenges when marriages end. It will be up to the state legislatures to decide whether to adopt the rules into law.

This was not the first time the commission addressed prenuptial agreements. In fact, the group released a set of rules on how to draft them in 1983, which 26 states ended up adopting. It will be interesting to see how many states adopt the rules this time around.

Source: Financial Adviser, "New Prenuptial Rules Aim to Get States on Same Page," Arden Dale, Aug. 15, 2012