Section 21 — Property (Relationships) Act 1976: Spouses or partners may contract out of this Act

21 Spouses or partners may contract out of this Act (1) A husband and wife, civil union partners, or de facto partners, or any 2 persons in contemplation of entering into a marriage, civil union or de facto relationship, may, for the purpose of contracting out of the provisions of this Act, make any agreement they think fit with respect to the status, ownership, and division of their property (including future property). (2) An agreement made under this section may relate to the status, ownership, and division of property in either or both of the following circumstances: (a) during the joint lives of the spouses or partners: (b) when 1 of the spouses or partners dies. (3) This section is subject to section 47 . Subsections (12A) to (12C) were inserted, as from 1 January 1984, by section 7 Matrimonial Property Amendment Act (No 2) 1983 (1983 No 145). Section 21 was substituted, as from 1 August 2001, by section 21(1) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2001 (2001 No 5). See section 21(3) of that Act which states that for the purposes of applying Part 6 of the principal Act during the period beginning on 1 August 2001 and ending with the close of 31 January 2002, all terms used in that Part have the meanings given to them in sections 2 to 2D of the principal Act (as substituted by section 8 ) as if section 8 were in force during that period. See Part 9 of this Act as to the transitional and saving provisions. The heading to section 21 was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(1) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by substituting the word “ partners ” for the words “ de facto partners ” . Subsection (1) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(3) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ , civil union, ” after the word “ marriage ” . Subsection (1) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(4) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by inserting the words “ , civil union partners, ” after the word “ wife ” . Subsection (2) was amended, as from 26 April 2005, by section 3(1) Property (Relationships) Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 19) by substituting the word “ partners ” for the words “ de facto partners ” wherever they appear.