Prenuptial Agreement Requirements in Indiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Indiana uses its Uniform Premarital Agreement Act

Indiana Code chapter 31-11-3 is titled the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. Its current enforcement section supplies two defenses: involuntary execution and unconscionability when the agreement was executed.

The agreement needs a writing and both signatures

Section 31-11-3-4 states the basic form directly: “A premarital agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties.” It also says the agreement is enforceable without consideration beyond the contemplated marriage.

Chapter 3 adds no notary, acknowledgment, witness, or recording step to that basic inter-party rule.

Indiana has no statutory disclosure checklist

Section 31-11-3-8 does not contain a separate fair-disclosure, written-waiver, or adequate-knowledge branch. That does not make financial information irrelevant. Harrill explains that unconscionability can consider the agreement's economic consequences, bargaining conditions, and a party's knowledge of the other party.

Counsel and timing are circumstances, not fixed statutory periods

Chapter 3 does not mandate independent counsel or set a minimum review or pre-wedding period. Harrill treats counsel as one consideration and upheld the agreement there even though the challenger had no lawyer: she had been told she could obtain one, reviewed the draft for several days, negotiated a revision, and signed more than a week before the ceremony.

Those facts illustrate the inquiry; they do not create a universal safe harbor measured in days.

The statute uses an execution-time fairness test

The party resisting enforcement bears the burden under § 31-11-3-8(a). That party must prove either that execution was not voluntary or that the agreement was unconscionable when executed. The court decides unconscionability as a matter of law.

Harrill describes voluntary conduct as intentional and without coercion. For unconscionability, it looks for gross bargaining-power disparity leading to an unwilling or unaware signature plus terms that no sensible person free of delusion, duress, or distress would accept. The doctrine looks to execution, not a general second look at divorce.

Maintenance has an unforeseen-extreme-hardship safety valve

Ind. Code § 31-11-3-5 permits modification or elimination of spousal maintenance. But § 31-11-3-8(b) allows a court to override that term if it causes extreme hardship under circumstances not reasonably foreseeable when the agreement was executed. The court may order only the maintenance necessary to avoid that extreme hardship.

This is not a public-assistance or public-charge test. The statutory trigger is extreme hardship plus execution-time unforeseeability.

Child matters and public policy remain outside complete private control

Section 31-11-3-5(b) says a prenup may not adversely affect a child's right to support. Custody is also not conclusively fixed by the agreement: § 31-17-2-8 requires the court to determine custody according to the child's best interests and all relevant factors.

Other personal-rights terms are permitted only if they do not violate public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.

A post-marriage change needs another signed writing

Under § 31-11-3-7, amendment or revocation after marriage is possible only by a written agreement signed by both parties. The amendment or revocation needs no consideration.

What trips people up

• Signing does not activate the agreement. Ind. Code §§ 31-11-3-2, -4, -6 say it becomes effective upon marriage. Calling the signature date the legal effective date obscures that statutory condition.

Common questions

What about an agreement signed before July 1, 1995?

Ind. Code § 31-11-3-1 expressly applies Chapter 3 only to agreements executed on or after July 1, 1995. An older agreement therefore requires analysis under the law applicable outside this chapter.

What if the marriage is later held void?

Ind. Code §§ 31-11-3-9 to -10 addresses two edge cases. Section 31-11-3-9 permits an otherwise qualifying agreement to be enforced only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.

Does a limitations period run while the spouses remain married?

Section 31-11-3-10 tolls an applicable limitations period during the marriage, but it preserves equitable timing defenses, including laches and estoppel.

Statutes and sources

• Ind. Code ch. 31-11-3 — applicability, form, subject matter, effectiveness, enforcement, maintenance, and changes after marriage. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-07-28).
• Harrill v. Harrill, No. 24A-DC-1793 (Ind. Ct. App. Apr. 8, 2025) — voluntariness, execution-time unconscionability, counsel, knowledge, and bargaining conditions. Official opinion (accessed 2026-07-28).
• Ind. Code § 31-17-2-8 — custody under the child's best interests. Official 2026 chapter PDF (accessed 2026-07-28).