Rules to drafting a prenuptial agreement

In August 2000, the California Supreme Court upheld a premarital agreement between baseball player Barry Bonds and his wife Sun Bonds. In that case, Sun Bonds said she didn’t understand what she was doing when she signed the agreement and could barely speak English.

Since that ruling, lawmakers have set more clear-cut standards about what can be agreed to before marriage. Here are the five basic rules to drafting a prenuptial agreement:

* Prenuptial agreements must be signed well before the wedding takes place.

* Each spouse must hire a lawyer to review the document.

* When signing a prenuptial agreement, both sides must disclose all their assets, debts and earnings.

* The agreement must be fair -- although people often disagree about that standard -- and cannot leave one spouse impoverished if a divorce takes place.

* Prenuptial agreements cannot determine future child support amounts in the event of a divorce. Child support payments are determined using a formula that calculates wage and need.