Prenuptial Agreement Requirements in Florida

At a glance

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 2026-08-16).
• Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3) — child-best-interest standard for parental responsibility, parenting plans, and time-sharing. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-08-16).
• Fla. Stat. § 732.701 — separate two-witness rule for agreements to make, not make, or not revoke a will or devise. Official Florida Statutes (accessed 2026-08-16).
• 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 2026-08-16); official bill history.