Legal Consequences of the Annulment of a Prenuptial Agreement on the Separation of Assets in Indonesia

Abstract

A prenuptial agreement is a legal instrument that grants prospective spouses the freedom to regulate their legal relationship within the marriage, particularly regarding the separation of assets. Regulations concerning prenuptial agreements in Indonesia evolved following Constitutional Court Decision Number 69/PUU-XIII/2015, which permits marriage agreements to be executed before, at the time of, or during the marriage. This study employs normative legal research with a descriptive-analytical nature. According to Peter Mahmud Marzuki, legal research is a process of discovering legal rules, principles, and doctrines to address specific legal issues. The findings indicate that the regulation of prenuptial agreements is derived from the Civil Code, Law Number 1 of 1974 concerning Marriage (as amended by Law Number 16 of 2019), and Constitutional Court Decision Number 69/PUU-XIII/2015. A prenuptial agreement must be executed as an authentic deed before a notary and registered with the competent authority to ensure it holds legal force against third parties. If a prenuptial agreement is annulled for failing to meet the validity requirements stipulated in Article 1320 of the Civil Code, the separation of assets loses its legal force, and the previously separated assets may revert to being joint marital property in accordance with statutory regulations. Consequently, the annulment of a prenuptial agreement entails significant legal consequences for the rights and obligations of the spouses and third parties; therefore, there is a need for greater legal certainty, diligence by notaries in drafting such deeds, and improved public understanding regarding the legal consequences of asset separation in marriage.