Professor: You Can't Pre-Agree to Intimate Terms After Breakup

A professor of family and inheritance law at the University of Iceland says certain personal matters can never be legally settled in advance through cohabitation or marital agreements. Hrefna Friðriksdóttir, who also serves as head of the university’s law department, commented on a recent court case involving an unusual clause in a financial agreement between former partners. The agreement reportedly required the man to attempt regular fertilization of his ex-partner’s eggs for one year following their separation. When the woman later claimed the entire contract was invalid, arguing she hadn’t consented to removal of that clause, the court ruled against her. The judge found insufficient proof of her claim and ordered her to pay the man 12.6 million Icelandic krónur under other terms of the same agreement. Friðriksdóttir emphasized that Icelandic family law prohibits prearranged decisions about deeply personal issues that depend on future feelings or circumstances. “You can’t agree in advance on matters you won’t have control over or insight into when the time comes,” she said. She added that although she hadn’t reviewed the actual court ruling or the disputed contract, the reported details raised clear legal concerns under standard principles of family law.