Do You Need Your Own Lawyer to Review a Prenup in Florida? (2026)
Someone has handed you a prenuptial agreement and asked you to sign it. Fla. Stat. § 61.079 — Florida’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act — does not require you to have your own lawyer. This page explains that honestly, and then explains why independent review still changes the outcome.
Quick Answer
Do you need your own lawyer to review a prenup in Florida?
Legally, no. § 61.079(3) requires only that the agreement “be in writing and signed by both parties,” and lack of counsel does not by itself void a prenup. Practically, yes — because under § 61.079(7)(a) the burden of undoing it later falls entirely on you.
Does Florida Law Require Each Party to Have a Lawyer?
No. This is worth stating plainly, because a great deal of national content says otherwise. There is no provision anywhere in § 61.079 requiring independent counsel, and no Florida rule that voids a premarital agreement merely because one party signed it unrepresented.
Section 61.079(1) identifies the statute as the “Uniform Premarital Agreement Act,” and § 61.079(2)(a) defines a premarital agreement as “an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage.” Neither definition mentions attorneys.
So if a website tells you Florida requires two lawyers, treat everything else on that page with suspicion.
What Does § 61.079(3) Actually Require?
Two things, and only two:
That is the entire list of formalities. No notarization requirement. No witness requirement. No recording. No filing with any court — which is also why a Florida prenup has no court filing fee at all, unlike the $409.00 it costs to file a petition for dissolution of marriage with the Miami-Dade Clerk. Many attorneys still arrange notarization and witnesses, but as evidence of who signed and when, not because the statute demands it.
Two further mechanics matter. Under § 61.079(5), the agreement “becomes effective upon marriage of the parties” — sign it and never marry, and it does nothing. And under § 61.079(6), after marriage it may be “amended, revoked, or abandoned only by a written agreement signed by the parties.” A verbal understanding that you will “fix it later” is not enforceable.
If Counsel Isn’t Required, Why Does Independent Review Matter?
Because of who has to prove what, and when. A prenuptial agreement is presumptively enforceable. If you want out of it years from now, you carry the burden — and the record you build today is the evidence you will or will not have then.
Independent review does three concrete things:
- It tells you what you are actually giving up — usually an alimony claim, an equitable-distribution claim, or both, before you have any way to value them.
- It creates a record of voluntariness. A represented signer who had weeks to read the draft is a hard fact for a future challenge to work around.
- It surfaces what is missing — most often incomplete financial disclosure schedules, which is the one defect the statute treats as legally significant.
What Must a Challenger Prove Under § 61.079(7)(a)?
Section 61.079(7)(a) provides that a premarital agreement is not enforceable if “the party against whom enforcement is sought proves” one of three things:
- § 61.079(7)(a)1. — “The party did not execute the agreement voluntarily”;
- § 61.079(7)(a)2. — “The agreement was the product of fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching”; or
- § 61.079(7)(a)3. — “The agreement was unconscionable when it was executed” and, before execution, that party met all three of the conditions in sub-subparagraphs a., b. and c.
Read the third ground carefully, because it is conjunctive. Unconscionability alone is not enough. The challenger must also show that, before signing, they:
The statute joins those three with “and”. If any one of them fails — if disclosure was fair, or if the party signed a written waiver of disclosure, or if they in fact had adequate knowledge of the other’s finances — the unconscionability ground collapses. And under § 61.079(7)(c), “an issue of unconscionability of a premarital agreement shall be decided by the court as a matter of law.”
That structure is exactly why review before signature is worth more than litigation after it. The disclosure schedules attached to your draft today are the same schedules a judge would look at in ten years.
Why Does the Drafting Spouse’s Lawyer Usually Want You Represented?
This surprises people. The attorney who wrote the draft represents your fiancé, not you — and that attorney’s job is to produce an agreement that survives a challenge under § 61.079(7)(a). An agreement signed by an unrepresented party, days before the wedding, with thin disclosure, is the weakest version of their client’s document.
So when the drafting lawyer encourages you to get your own counsel, that is not a courtesy and it is not a trap. It is enforceability engineering. Your interests and theirs happen to point in the same direction on this one question, and diverge on nearly every other.
Can the Same Lawyer Represent Both of You?
As a practical matter, no. The two of you have directly adverse economic interests in the very document being negotiated: every dollar the agreement protects for one side is a dollar the other side gives up. A lawyer cannot advise both sides of that trade.
What happens instead is one of two things. Either you retain your own attorney, or you sign an acknowledgment stating you were advised to obtain independent counsel and chose not to. That acknowledgment is not nothing — it is evidence — but it is not advice, and it does not tell you what the alimony clause does.
What Is a Conflicts Check, and Why Does It Come First?
Before a Florida firm can even read your draft, it must run a conflicts check: a search of its own records to confirm it has never represented, and does not currently represent, your fiancé, their business, their family trust, or any other adverse party in the matter. A firm holding confidential information from the other side cannot take you on.
What this means for you in practice:
- Expect to give both parties’ full legal names at first contact — yours and your fiancé’s.
- Be ready to name relevant entities: companies, partnerships, trusts, and sometimes family members whose assets appear in the draft.
- Do not send the agreement until you are cleared. A firm that turns out to be conflicted should not be reading your fiancé’s confidential financial schedules.
- Clearance is usually same-day. Only after it clears does an engagement letter, a scope, and a fee follow.
In South Florida this is a live issue, not a formality: family-law firms in a market this concentrated frequently have prior contact with one side of a couple, and conflicts do turn up.
What Does a Prenup Review Engagement Actually Produce?
- A written analysis. Clause by clause: what the property provisions do under § 61.079(4)(a)1. and § 61.079(4)(a)3., what the spousal-support clause does under § 61.079(4)(a)4., and whether a choice-of-law clause under § 61.079(4)(a)7. points Florida law somewhere else.
- Proposed revisions. Concrete redlines — a sunset provision, a carve-out for the marital residence, a support floor instead of a total waiver, a requirement that disclosure schedules be completed and attached.
- Negotiation, if you want it. Your attorney communicates with the drafting attorney until the terms settle, or until you decide not to sign.
Cost is a separate question with a separate answer: see what it costs to have a lawyer review a prenup in Florida, which publishes the market ranges and the cost drivers.
What Can a Florida Prenup Never Do — With or Without Your Lawyer?
Some protections do not depend on whether you were represented.
Child support. Section 61.079(4)(b) is one sentence long and absolute:
Child support is calculated under § 61.30, and time-sharing is decided under § 61.13, which since July 1, 2023 begins from a rebuttable presumption under § 61.13(2)(c)1. that equal time-sharing is in a child’s best interests. No premarital agreement displaces either.
Public assistance. Under § 61.079(7)(b), if a spousal-support waiver would leave one party eligible for public assistance at separation or dissolution, a court “notwithstanding the terms of the agreement, may require the other party to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility.”
Void marriage. Under § 61.079(8), if a marriage is determined to be void, the agreement is enforceable “only to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.”
Time. Under § 61.079(9), any limitations period on a claim under the agreement “is tolled during the marriage of the parties” — though laches and estoppel remain available.
Is Casto v. Casto (Fla. 1987) the Right Case for a Prenup?
No, and the distinction matters more than most sources admit. Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987), addresses postnuptial and marital settlement agreements — agreements between people who are already married. Premarital agreements made in contemplation of marriage are governed by § 61.079, enacted in 2007.
If a page analyzing your prenup leans on Casto, it is applying the wrong framework. And if it discusses attorney’s fees, note that fee-shifting in a Florida family case runs through § 61.16 and Rosen v. Rosen, 696 So. 2d 697 (Fla. 1997) — not through the premarital agreement statute.
What Should You Do in the Week Before You Sign?
- Stop and read the disclosure schedules. If Exhibit A or Exhibit B is blank or missing, that is the first thing to raise — it is the defect § 61.079(7)(a)3.a. cares about.
- Find the alimony clause. A waiver under § 61.079(4)(a)4. removes the analysis you would otherwise get under § 61.08.
- Find the property clause. Ask whether it waives the enhancement-in-value rule of § 61.075(6)(a)1.b. or redefines what is nonmarital under § 61.075(6)(b).
- Check for a choice-of-law clause under § 61.079(4)(a)7.
- Call a firm and clear conflicts before sending anything.
- Do not sign on the day you are asked to. Time is the cheapest protection available under § 61.079(7)(a)1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Florida law require each party to have their own lawyer for a prenup?
No. Fla. Stat. § 61.079(3) imposes only two formalities: the agreement “must be in writing and signed by both parties,” and “it is enforceable without consideration other than the marriage itself.” Nothing in § 61.079 requires independent counsel, and the absence of a lawyer does not by itself make a Florida prenuptial agreement void. Some national websites state the opposite; they are wrong about Florida.
If it isn't required, why does independent review still matter?
Because of who carries the burden later. Under § 61.079(7)(a), the party trying to escape the agreement must prove it. Evidence that you had your own attorney, had time to read the draft, and understood what you were waiving is the strongest available answer to a later claim that you “did not execute the agreement voluntarily” under § 61.079(7)(a)1.
What must someone prove to set aside a Florida prenup?
One of three things under § 61.079(7)(a): that the party “did not execute the agreement voluntarily”; that the agreement “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 fair and reasonable disclosure, did not voluntarily and expressly waive disclosure in writing, and did not have and could not reasonably have had adequate knowledge of the other party's property or financial obligations. The third ground is conjunctive — all of those elements must be met.
Can one lawyer represent both of us on a prenup?
As a practical matter, no. The two of you have directly adverse economic interests in the very document being drafted, so one lawyer cannot advise both. The attorney who drafts the agreement represents one party only, and will say so in writing. The other party either retains independent counsel or signs a waiver acknowledging they were advised to obtain counsel and chose not to.
Why would my fiancé's lawyer want me to have my own lawyer?
Because it strengthens the agreement. The drafting attorney's client wants a document that survives a challenge under § 61.079(7)(a). An agreement signed by a represented party, well before the wedding, with complete disclosure schedules attached, is far harder to attack than one signed by an unrepresented party days before the ceremony. Independent review protects both sides for different reasons.
What is a conflicts check and why does a firm run one before reviewing my prenup?
A conflicts check is a search of the firm's records to confirm it has never represented, and is not currently representing, your fiancé or a related party or entity. It happens before any substantive review, because a firm that has confidential information from the other side cannot take you on. Expect to give both full legal names, and often the names of relevant businesses or trusts, before you send the draft.
What does a prenup review engagement actually produce?
Three things: a written analysis of what each clause does under Florida law — particularly the alimony waiver under § 61.079(4)(a)4., the property provisions under § 61.079(4)(a)1. and 3., and any choice-of-law clause under § 61.079(4)(a)7.; a set of proposed revisions; and, if you choose to pursue them, negotiation with the drafting attorney until the terms settle or you decide not to sign.
Can a prenup take away child support or decide custody?
No, not to the child's detriment. Fla. Stat. § 61.079(4)(b) provides flatly: “The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.” Child support is calculated under § 61.30, and time-sharing is decided under § 61.13, which since July 1, 2023 begins from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child's best interests. A prenup cannot override either.
Does a prenup have to be notarized or witnessed in Florida?
Section 61.079(3) does not require notarization or witnesses. It requires a writing signed by both parties. Many Florida attorneys still arrange notarization and witnesses as evidence of who signed and when — useful proof if voluntariness is ever disputed under § 61.079(7)(a)1., but not a statutory condition of validity.
Is Casto v. Casto the case that governs prenups?
No — and the distinction matters. Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987), addresses postnuptial and marital settlement agreements between people who are already married. Premarital agreements signed in contemplation of marriage are governed by Fla. Stat. § 61.079, Florida's Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, enacted in 2007. Sources that apply Casto to a prenup are citing the wrong framework.
What if I decide not to sign?
That is a legitimate outcome. A premarital agreement “becomes effective upon marriage of the parties” under § 61.079(5), so an unsigned or unmarried agreement does nothing. If you sign and later want to change it, § 61.079(6) allows amendment, revocation or abandonment after marriage only “by a written agreement signed by the parties,” again without consideration.
Official Sources & Related Reading
- Fla. Stat. § 61.079, Premarital agreements — official text (Online Sunshine)
- The Florida Bar — verify that any attorney you retain is licensed and in good standing
- Florida Family Law Forms — flcourts.gov
- How Much Does It Cost to Have a Lawyer Review a Prenup in Florida?
- Fla. Stat. § 61.079 — Florida Premarital Agreements, explained
- Florida Prenup FAQ
- Florida Prenup Checklist & Cost
- Florida Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
Asked to Sign a Prenup? Get Your Own Read on It.
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The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group, and no attorney-client relationship exists until a conflicts check is completed and a written engagement agreement is signed. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.