[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":3,"doc-seo-282678-105":53,"doc-detail-282678-en":126},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,14,19,24,29,34,39,44,49],{"id":8,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":11,"show_sort_weight":12,"slug":13},11,1,"Template","Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":15,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":16,"show_sort_weight":17,"slug":18},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":20,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":21,"show_sort_weight":22,"slug":23},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":25,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":26,"show_sort_weight":27,"slug":28},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":30,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":31,"show_sort_weight":32,"slug":33},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":35,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":36,"show_sort_weight":37,"slug":38},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":40,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":41,"show_sort_weight":42,"slug":43},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":45,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":46,"show_sort_weight":47,"slug":48},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":50,"doc_module":9,"doc_module_name":10,"category_name":51,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":52},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":54,"data":55},"ok",{"site_id":56,"language":57,"slug":58,"title":59,"keywords":60,"description":61,"schema_data":62,"social_meta":119,"head_meta":121,"extra_data":123,"updated_unix":125},105,"en","nonmarital-contracts-volume-73-article","Nonmarital Contracts - Volume 73 - Article","","Marriage historically set boundaries on contractual freedom, restricting wives’ ability to contract and later creating gender-neutral limits for spouses on matters integral to the marital relationship. Outside marriage, scholarship often assumed that unmarried people face no comparable impediments. This Article evaluates that assumption and examines how courts construe contractual rights across intimate relationships. It concludes that courts routinely invalidate express agreements between unmarried couples, applying restriction logics similar to those used in marriage.",{"@graph":63,"@context":118},[64,80,101],{"@type":65,"itemListElement":66},"BreadcrumbList",[67,71,74,77],{"item":68,"name":69,"@type":70,"position":9},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":72,"name":10,"@type":70,"position":73},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/",2,{"item":75,"name":51,"@type":70,"position":76},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/general/",3,{"item":78,"name":59,"@type":70,"position":79},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/nonmarital-contracts-volume-73-article/282678/",4,{"url":78,"name":59,"@type":81,"image":82,"author":87,"headline":59,"publisher":90,"fileFormat":93,"inLanguage":57,"description":61,"dateModified":94,"datePublished":95,"encodingFormat":93,"isAccessibleForFree":96,"interactionStatistic":97},"DigitalDocument",{"url":83,"@type":84,"width":85,"height":86},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/nonmarital-contracts-volume-73-article/282678.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":88,"@type":89},"Adam","Person",{"url":68,"name":91,"@type":92},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-24","2026-09-16",true,{"@type":98,"interactionType":99,"userInteractionCount":9},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":100},"ViewAction",{"@type":102,"mainEntity":103},"FAQPage",[104,110,114],{"name":105,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":107},"How does the Article assess whether unmarried couples face contractual impediments outside marriage?","Question",{"text":108,"@type":109},"It evaluates how the right to contract is construed across intimate relationships, reviewing cases involving express nonmarital agreements and their outcomes in court.","Answer",{"name":111,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What is the main finding about express contracts between unmarried couples?",{"text":113,"@type":109},"Contrary to conventional wisdom, courts routinely invalidate express agreements between unmarried couples.",{"name":115,"@type":106,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does restricting nonmarital contracting matter for legal rights and remedies?",{"text":117,"@type":109},"The Article argues that contract doctrine performs a status-like function, limiting property access and refusing recognition for services such as homemaking or child-rearing, leaving rights incomplete outside marriage.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":78,"og:type":120,"og:title":59,"og:site_name":91,"og:description":61},"article",{"robots":122,"canonical":78},"index,follow",{"doc_id":124,"site_id":56},282678,1790226307,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":127},{"doc_id":124,"user_id":128,"nickname":88,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":9,"category_id":50,"category_name":51,"doc_title":59,"doc_description":61,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":73,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":9,"is_downloadable":9,"audit_status":9,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":57,"site_id":56,"html_lang":57,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":61,"update_tm":140,"read_time":141},1374404737137,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","Stanford Law Review   \nVolume 73 January 2021  \nARTICLE  \nNonmarital Contracts  \nAlbertina Antognini*  \nAbstract. Marriage has long been a recognized limit on the right to contract. Wives were once prevented from contracting entirely, and now gender-neutral rules prevent spouses from contracting over matters that are considered integral to the marital relationship. Outside of marriage, then, scholars have generally assumed that individuals experience no similar impediments in exercising their rights to contract. In fact, the right to contract has been widely understood as an effective means of providing unmarried couples access to legal rights they otherwise lack. But there has yet to be any assessment of how such contracts actually fare outside ofmarriage.  \nThis Article provides that assessment. It considers how the right to contract is construed across intimate relationships. After canvassing the body of cases addressing express contracts in the context of nonmarital relationships, it shows that—contrary to conventional wisdom—courts routinely invalidate express agreements between unmarried couples. In particular, it argues that courts restrict the right to contract outside of marriage in precisely the same ways it is restricted within marriage. Contract doctrine thereby does the work of status, insofar as it limits access to property on the basis of the relationship and refuses to recognize services rendered, like homemaking or child-rearing. Contract, however, functions more expansively and less visibly than status because these  \n* Professor of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. I am especially grateful for the generous comments provided by Susan Frelich Appleton, Barbara A. Atwood, Katharine Baker, Ralph Richard Banks, Marisa Cianciarulo, Beth Colgan, Andrew Gilden, Thea Johnson, Elizabeth D. Katz, Saura Masconale, Toni M. Massaro, Kaiponanea T. Matsumura, Serena Mayeri, Goldburn P. Maynard, Jr., Alison Morantz, Robert Pollak, Jamie Ratner, Shalev Roisman, Naomi Schoenbaum, Norman Spaulding, Emily J. Stolzenberg, Rebecca Tushnet, and Andrew K. Woods. I also thank the University of Arizona legal librarians, along with participants at the Chapman Worksin-Progress Workshop, the University of Arizona College of Law Developing Ideas Workshop, the University of Arizona Freedom Center Colloquium, the 2020 Family Law Scholars and Teachers Conference, the 2020 Nonmarriage Roundtable, the Work, Family, and Public Policy Workshop at Washington University in St. Louis, and the 2020 Stanford/Yale/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum. Finally, I am indebted to my research assistant, Niya S. Tawachi, and the Stanford Law Review editors, in particular Katherine Giordano, Alyssa Epstein, Julián Álvarez, Jessica Blau, Donovan Hicks, Tyler McClure, Hannah Nelson, Alexandra O’Keefe, Jasmine Robinson, Danielle Roybal, Morgan Smiley, and Samuel Ward-Packard. All errors are mine.  \nNonmarital Contracts  \n73 STAN. L. REV. 67 (2021)  \nrestrictions apply beyond marriage and other formal relationships to impact individuals in nonmarital relationships.  \nThis inquiry matters now more than ever. At a time when the number of individuals marrying is remarkably low and there are no ex ante rules regulating the rights of nonmarital couples, it is imperative to analyze whether contract is a viable legal option. This Article shows that the right to contract is limited outside of marriage and, as currently constituted, provides at best an incomplete resolution to the problem of what rights individuals ought to have in a nonmarital relationship.  \nNonmarital Contracts  \n73 STAN. L. REV. 67 (2021)  \nTable of Contents  \nIntroduction .............................................................................................................................................................. 70  \nI. Contracts in Families ..............................................................................................................................","cbCaioAnOlkD850M","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioAnOlkD850M","pdf",650317,107,"English","# Introduction\n## Contracts in Families\n## A. No Right to Contract for Services\n## B. From Coverture to Contract\n## C. Right to Contract in the Nonmarital Literature\n## Contracts in Nonmarriage\n## A. Contracts Not Upheld\n## 1. Sex and services\n## 2. Love and affection\n## 3. Presumption of gratuity and lack of exchange\n## 4. Vagueness\n## 5. Remands et al\n## B. Contracts Upheld\n## 1. Marital-like same-sex couples\n## 2. Principally property-based claims\n## 3. Relationship-based or service-based contract claims\n## Consequences of a Restricted Right to Contract","[{\"question\":\"How does the Article assess whether unmarried couples face contractual impediments outside marriage?\",\"answer\":\"It evaluates how the right to contract is construed across intimate relationships, reviewing cases involving express nonmarital agreements and their outcomes in court.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the main finding about express contracts between unmarried couples?\",\"answer\":\"Contrary to conventional wisdom, courts routinely invalidate express agreements between unmarried couples.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does restricting nonmarital contracting matter for legal rights and remedies?\",\"answer\":\"The Article argues that contract doctrine performs a status-like function, limiting property access and refusing recognition for services such as homemaking or child-rearing, leaving rights incomplete outside marriage.\"}]","Nonmarital Contracts - Volume 73 - Article | PDF",1789579861,37]