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Prenuptial Agreement In Indonesia

If you are foreign nationality and plan to marry an Indonesian spouse, you need to get a prenuptial agreement. Considering foreigners are not allowed to have a property in Indonesia, and if you wish to take the quite sensible precaution of a prenuptial agreement for the purpose of protecting yourself and your properties in the event that one of you dies, a prenuptial agreement is a must-have choice. The Indonesian government can, by law, take virtually everything away from the grieving party because they did not create such a protective document PRIOR to marriage.

To avoid this trouble, it would be prudent to draft a prenuptial agreement complying with the Indonesian laws to ensure that your financial interest(s) will be up-held by the Indonesia court.

Legal Aspects

The 1974 Indonesian Marriage Law has a very simple provision of prenuptial agreement compared to the ancient Dutch Law, Civil Code. The law governing the prenuptial agreement only consist of one article. It stipulates that the agreement should be made prior to marriage. The agreement should be legalized by the marriage registry office. Civil Registry Office for Non-Moslem, and Office of Religious Affairs for Moslem.

Both parties are free to determine the form of law, as long as abiding the law, religion, and moral consideration. The provision are indeed very general. The legislatures seem to let it so in order to make it flexible with the development of the religion, moral, and public order.

Other provision stipulates that the agreement can not be amended during marriage, except upon approval of both parties and do not cause disavantage to any third party.

Person in Need of a Prenup

Consider a prenuptial agreement if you suit with at least one of the following conditions:

1. Person of foreign nationality married to Indonesian spouse and wish to own property in Indonesia;
2. Person who is bringing a lot of assets to the partnership, including all retirement account;
3. Person who has his or her own business or is a partner in a company;
4. Person on a fast career track who is likely to earn a hefty salary in the future;
5. Person who has children from a prior marriage;
6. Person who is paying for his or her spouse to get an advanced degree likely to result in significant future earnings.