Texas: Prenuptial Agreement Requirements
The short answer
Texas requires a written prenuptial agreement signed by both prospective spouses; it needs no consideration and becomes effective on marriage. The statute does not require a notary, witnesses, independent counsel, or a waiting period. The agreement may modify or eliminate spousal support, but it may not adversely affect child support, and enforcement turns on voluntary signing or the statute's execution-time unconscionability and disclosure test.
Ask Ezel about your situation
This is the general rule in Texas. Ezel applies current Texas law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and framework | Texas Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (Tex. Fam. Code ch. 4, subch. A, §§ 4.001-4.010) |
|---|---|
| Writing, signature, and effect | Writing signed by both; no consideration; effective on marriage (§§ 4.002, 4.004) |
| Execution formalities | No notary, acknowledgment, witnesses, or recording required by the UPAA for basic validity (§ 4.002) |
| Financial disclosure and waiver | Fair and reasonable disclosure; written express waiver or adequate knowledge can defeat the disclosure-based challenge (§ 4.006(a)(2)) |
| Independent counsel and timing | No express counsel, counsel-waiver form, review period, or pre-wedding waiting period; voluntary signing still required (§§ 4.002, 4.006) |
| Fairness standard and source | Statute — involuntary signing defeats enforcement; unconscionability at signing plus all three disclosure failures also defeats it; statutory remedies/defenses are exclusive (§ 4.006) |
| Spousal-support limits | May modify or eliminate spousal support; no counsel gate or enforcement-time second look in the UPAA, but the general § 4.006 test applies (§§ 4.003(a)(4), 4.006) |
| Child and public-policy limits | Cannot adversely affect child support; custody/access remain subject to court-determined best interests; no term may violate public policy or a criminal statute (§§ 4.003, 153.002) |
| Amendment and revocation | After marriage, only by a writing signed by both; no consideration required (§ 4.005) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Texas uses the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act
Tex. Fam. Code § 4.010 names Subchapter A the Uniform Premarital Agreement
Act. It supplies the form, permitted subjects, enforcement test, and change
rules for agreements between prospective spouses.
The basic form is a signed writing
Tex. Fam. Code §§ 4.002 and 4.004 require the agreement to be in writing and
signed by both parties, make it enforceable without consideration, and make
marriage—not the signature date—the event that activates it.
The UPAA adds no notary, witness, or filing requirement
Section 4.002 states the complete statutory formalities for the prenup itself:
a writing and both signatures. Subchapter A does not add notarization,
acknowledgment, witnesses, or recording as a condition of basic validity.
That is different from treating a notary or separate property instrument as a
practical safeguard for a particular transaction. Those choices do not become
universal UPAA requirements.
Disclosure uses alternatives, not one absolute format
The § 4.006(a)(2) route requires more than an omitted asset. The party resisting
enforcement must prove that the agreement was unconscionable when signed and
that all three listed facts applied before signing: no fair and reasonable
disclosure, no voluntary express written waiver of further disclosure, and no
actual or reasonably available adequate knowledge of the other party's property
or financial obligations.
The statute does not require the waiver to be a separate document. It does
require the waiver itself to be express, voluntary, and in writing.
Texas specifies no counsel or pre-wedding clock
Chapter 4 does not impose independent counsel, a counsel-advisement form, a
review period, or a minimum number of days before the wedding. The absence of
those formal requirements does not eliminate the separate requirement that the
agreement be signed voluntarily under § 4.006(a)(1).
The statute supplies an exclusive enforcement test
Under § 4.006(a)-(c), an agreement is not enforceable if the resisting party
proves either involuntary signing or the combined execution-time
unconscionability and disclosure test. The court decides unconscionability as a
matter of law.
Subsection (c) says these statutory remedies and defenses are exclusive,
including against common-law remedies or defenses. The act does not add a
general enforcement-time fairness or changed-circumstances review.
Spousal support may be modified or eliminated
Section 4.003(a)(4) expressly permits modification or elimination of spousal
support. Texas's UPAA does not condition that term on independent counsel and
does not add a support-specific unconscionability review at enforcement. The
agreement as a whole remains subject to the exclusive § 4.006 test.
Child matters and public policy remain outside private control
Tex. Fam. Code § 4.003(a)-(b) says the agreement may not adversely affect a
child's right to support. For custody, possession, and access, § 153.002(a)
makes the child's best interest the court's primary consideration.
Section 4.003(a)(8) also limits personal-rights and other terms: they may not
violate public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.
Changes after marriage require another signed writing
Under § 4.005, a post-marriage amendment or revocation must be in writing and
signed by both parties. No consideration is required for the change.
What trips people up
- “Fair and reasonable” is the Texas disclosure phrase. Section 4.006 does
not use California's “fair, reasonable, and full” formulation. - Marriage pauses a limitations period, but not every timing defense. Under
§ 4.008, an applicable limitations period is tolled during marriage while
laches and estoppel remain available.
Common questions
Can a Texas prenup choose which state's law governs its construction?
Yes. Section 4.003(a)(7) includes a choice-of-law term among the subjects the
parties may address. How a court resolves a multistate dispute remains a
separate question beyond the face of that provision.
Can it address property at death and related estate arrangements?
Yes. Section 4.003(a) permits terms about property disposition at death, a will
or trust arrangement used to carry out the prenup, and ownership or disposition
of a life-insurance death benefit.
What if the marriage is determined to be void?
Tex. Fam. Code § 4.007 limits an agreement that otherwise would have been a
premarital agreement to enforcement necessary to avoid an inequitable result.
Statutes and sources
- Tex. Fam. Code §§ 4.001-4.010 — Texas Uniform Premarital Agreement Act,
including form, content, effect, amendment, enforcement, void marriage, and
limitations. Official Texas Family Code chapter
4 (accessed
2026-07-27). - Tex. Fam. Code § 153.002(a) — court-primary child-best-interest rule for
conservatorship, possession, and access. Official Texas Family Code chapter
153 (accessed
2026-07-27).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
Get the answer for your situation
You just read how Texas handles this in general. Ezel applies current Texas law to your facts and answers your specific question, with citations.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer cites the authority it relies on.