Florida premarital agreement attorney

01 Quick answers

When does a premarital agreement take effect?

On marriage. Section 61.079 provides that a premarital agreement becomes effective upon the marriage of the parties — so an engagement that ends means the agreement never operates.

Can it decide alimony?

Yes, that is one of the main reasons people sign one. The 2023 alimony changes make it a more deliberate decision than it used to be.

Can it waive child support?

No. The statute states plainly that the right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.

What makes one unenforceable?

Involuntary execution; fraud, duress, coercion or overreaching; or unconscionability at execution combined with a failure of fair and reasonable financial disclosure that was not expressly waived in writing.

Can we change it after the wedding?

Only in writing, signed by both of you. Section 61.079 allows amendment, revocation or abandonment after marriage only by written agreement — and it is enforceable without consideration.

Is a postnuptial agreement the same thing?

Not under this statute, which governs premarital agreements. Agreements signed during a marriage are evaluated on their own terms, which is a reason to be precise about which one you are signing.

02 What it can settle

What a Florida premarital agreement is allowed to decide

More than most people assume, and one thing less.

Section 61.079 lets the parties contract about their property rights and obligations, the disposition of property on separation, dissolution or death, alimony, the making of a will or trust to carry out the agreement, the ownership and disposition of a life insurance death benefit, the law governing construction of the agreement, and any other matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation of public policy or a law imposing a criminal penalty.

And then the limit, stated flatly: the right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.

That boundary is worth understanding before signing rather than after. Two people can agree about their own money. They cannot agree about a child’s entitlement, because it is not theirs to trade.

The agreement becomes effective upon marriage, so one signed for a wedding that does not happen simply never operates.

Two people can contract about their own money. A child’s support is not theirs to contract about.

03 Enforcement

The three ways an agreement fails, and the disclosure rule inside them

This is where these agreements are actually tested, and the statute is specific about what defeats one.

An agreement is not enforceable if the party against whom enforcement is sought proves that: they did not execute the agreement voluntarily; that it was the product of fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; or that it was unconscionable when it was executed and, before execution, that party was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the other party’s property and financial obligations and did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, the right to that disclosure.

Notice how the third one is built. Unconscionability alone does not defeat the agreement. It has to combine with a disclosure failure. Which means full, documented financial disclosure is the single most effective thing a party can do to make an agreement survive.

And the first two are about the circumstances of signing. An agreement produced the week of the wedding, with no separate counsel and no time to read it, invites exactly the argument the statute describes. Time and independent advice are not formalities here; they are what the enforceability turns on.

Unconscionable alone does not break it. Unconscionable plus no disclosure does.

04 Changing it

Amendment after the wedding, and why it needs nothing in return

A short provision with a practical consequence.

After marriage, a premarital agreement may be amended, revoked, or abandoned only by a written agreement signed by the parties — and the amendment, revocation or abandonment is enforceable without consideration.

"Only by a written agreement" does the work here. Years of behaving as though the agreement did not exist does not revoke it. Nor does a conversation, however clear both people were.

"Without consideration" removes the usual contract objection. Neither of you has to give anything up to change it; the signature is enough. Which makes revisiting an old agreement far simpler than people expect, provided it is done in writing.