Florida: Prenuptial Agreement Requirements
The short answer
Florida requires a written prenuptial agreement signed by both prospective spouses; the marriage supplies the consideration and the agreement becomes effective upon marriage. The UPAA itself requires no notary, witnesses, independent counsel, or waiting period. A support waiver remains subject to a public-assistance override, child support cannot be adversely affected, and enforcement may fail for involuntariness, fraud, duress, coercion, overreaching, or the statute's execution-time unconscionability and disclosure test.
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This is the general rule in Florida. Ezel applies current Florida law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and framework | Florida Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (Fla. Stat. § 61.079), with a 2026 constitutional floor for foreign/religious law and contract clauses (§ 2.05) |
|---|---|
| Writing, signature, and effect | Writing signed by both; marriage is the consideration; effective upon marriage (§ 61.079(3), (5)) |
| Execution formalities | No notary, witnesses, acknowledgment, or recording required by the UPAA; separate Probate Code formalities are preserved (§ 61.079(3), (10)) |
| Financial disclosure and waiver | Fair and reasonable disclosure; written express waiver or adequate knowledge can defeat the disclosure-based challenge (§ 61.079(7)(a)3.) |
| Independent counsel and timing | No express counsel, counsel-waiver form, review period, or pre-wedding waiting period; voluntary execution still required (§ 61.079(3), (7)) |
| Fairness standard and source | Statute — involuntary execution; fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; or unconscionability at execution plus all three disclosure failures defeats enforcement (§ 61.079(7)) |
| Spousal-support limits | May establish, modify, waive, or eliminate support; court may order enough support to avoid public-assistance eligibility (§ 61.079(4)(a)4., (7)(b)) |
| Child and public-policy limits | Cannot adversely affect child support; parenting remains court-best-interest work; terms cannot violate public policy/criminal law, and choice-law/forum clauses cannot infringe constitutional rights (§§ 61.079, 61.13, 2.05) |
| Amendment and revocation | After marriage, amendment, revocation, or abandonment only by a writing signed by both; no consideration required (§ 61.079(6)) |
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Requirements one by one
Florida uses its Uniform Premarital Agreement Act
Fla. Stat. § 61.079(1) names the section the Uniform Premarital Agreement
Act and states that it applies only to proceedings under the Florida Family
Law Rules of Procedure.
The marriage supplies consideration and activates the agreement
Under § 61.079(3), the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties.
It needs no consideration other than the marriage itself. Subsection (5) makes
the agreement effective upon the parties' marriage rather than on the signature
date.
The UPAA itself requires no notary or witnesses
Section 61.079(3) states the basic prenup formalities without adding a notary,
acknowledgment, witnesses, or recording. But subsection (10) expressly leaves
separate Probate Code agreement formalities unchanged. A document that combines
a prenup with probate waivers therefore needs a separate analysis of those
embedded terms; the UPAA form rule does not override them.
Disclosure follows the familiar three-part alternative test
The § 61.079(7) disclosure route applies only when the agreement was
unconscionable when executed and the resisting party also proves all three
listed conditions: no fair and reasonable disclosure, no voluntary express
written waiver of additional disclosure, and no actual or reasonably available
adequate knowledge of the other party's property or financial obligations.
The statute requires a written waiver, but does not say the waiver must be a
separate document.
Florida has no statutory counsel or timing period
Section 61.079 states no independent-counsel mandate, counsel-waiver form,
minimum review period, or pre-wedding waiting period. Those omissions do not
remove the separate voluntariness, fraud, duress, coercion, and overreaching
standards.
The fairness test has three independent routes
Under § 61.079(7), a party may defeat enforcement by proving involuntary
execution; by proving that the agreement resulted from fraud, duress, coercion,
or overreaching; or by proving execution-time unconscionability together with
all three disclosure failures. The court decides unconscionability as a matter
of law.
The UPAA does not state a general changed-circumstances review for property
terms. It does create the support-specific public-assistance protection below.
Support terms have a public-assistance safety valve
Fla. Stat. § 61.079(4) permits the establishment, modification, waiver, or
elimination of spousal support. If a modification or elimination makes one
party eligible for public assistance at separation or dissolution, subsection
(7)(b) allows the court to require enough support to avoid that eligibility.
Child and constitutional protections remain controlling
Section 61.079(4)(b) bars a prenup from adversely affecting a child's right to
support. Under § 61.13(3), the child's best interests remain the primary
consideration for parental responsibility, parenting plans, and time-sharing.
The prenup statute also bars terms that violate Florida public policy or a law
imposing a criminal penalty.
Florida added another current limit on July 1, 2026. New § 2.05(3), (5)-(6) prevents
application of foreign or religious law, and enforcement of choice-of-law or
forum-selection clauses, to the stated extent that constitutional rights would
be violated. This is a general contract limit; it does not replace § 61.079's
ordinary prenup rules.
Amendment, revocation, or abandonment needs another signed writing
Under § 61.079(6), a post-marriage amendment, revocation, or abandonment must
be in writing and signed by both parties. No consideration is required.
What trips people up
- Probate terms keep their own formalities. Section 61.079(10) expressly
refuses to alter the rules for agreements under §§ 732.701 and 732.702. - Marriage tolls limitations but leaves equitable timing defenses. Section
61.079(9) tolls an applicable limitations period during marriage while
preserving laches and estoppel.
Common questions
Can a Florida prenup address property at death?
Yes. Fla. Stat. § 61.079(4) permits terms about property disposition at death, a
will or trust arrangement used to carry out the agreement, and ownership or
disposition of a life-insurance death benefit. Any separate probate formality
still applies because subsection (10) preserves it.
What if the marriage is determined to be void?
Section 61.079(8) limits an agreement that otherwise would have been a
premarital agreement to enforcement necessary to avoid an inequitable result.
Statutes and sources
- Fla. Stat. § 61.079(1)-(10) — Florida UPAA form, content, effect,
amendment, enforcement, support override, void marriage, limitations, and
probate-formality savings clause. Official Florida
Statutes
(accessed 2026-07-27). - Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3) — child-best-interest standard for parental
responsibility, parenting plans, and time-sharing. Official Florida
Statutes
(accessed 2026-07-27). - Fla. Stat. § 2.05(3), (5)-(6), created by 2026 Fla. Laws ch. 2026-28 — current
constitutional limits on foreign or religious law and choice-of-law or
forum-selection clauses, effective July 1, 2026. Official enrolled HB
1471
(accessed 2026-07-27); official bill
history.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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