Validity and Legal Consequences of a Marriage Contract Regarding the Division of Joint Property After the Marriage

This study aims to analyze the validity and legal consequences of postnuptial agreements regarding the division of marital property, as well as their effect on third parties. This issue has become relevant following Constitutional Court Decision No. 69/PUU-XIII/2015, which expanded the timeframe for entering into marriage agreements, thereby raising questions regarding the applicability of changes to the property regime to assets already acquired and the legal relationship with third parties. This study employs a normative-empirical legal methodology using legislative, case law, and conceptual approaches. Legal materials were obtained from legislation, court decisions, legal literature, and legal documents, while empirical data were collected through interviews at the Panjang Subdistrict Office of Religious Affairs in Bandar Lampung. The analysis was conducted using descriptive-qualitative methods. The results of the study indicate that a postnuptial agreement is valid provided it is made based on the mutual consent of the parties, meets the requirements of form and procedure, and does not conflict with the law, religion, public morality, or the interests of third parties. Such an agreement may alter the marital property regime, but such a change does not automatically eliminate or diminish rights that arose prior to the agreement, particularly with respect to property that has already become the subject of a legal relationship with a third party. Consequently, strengthening the registration and public disclosure of marital agreements is necessary to provide legal certainty and prevent changes to the marital property regime from being used to the detriment of third parties acting in good faith