Is Financial Disclosure Required for a Florida Prenup?
Quick Answer
Not as a formality — and that surprises almost everyone. Fla. Stat. § 61.079(3) requires only that the agreement be in writing and signed by both parties. Disclosure appears nowhere in the execution rules. It appears in one place only: inside the third ground for refusing enforcement, § 61.079(7)(a)3., where it is one element of a test whose clauses are joined by and. Failing to exchange schedules does not, by itself, void a Florida prenup. It becomes fatal only in combination.
Where Disclosure Actually Appears in the Statute
Three subsections do the work and they are worth keeping separate. § 61.079(3) is the formality rule: writing, both signatures, no consideration required. § 61.079(5) makes the agreement effective upon marriage. § 61.079(7)(a) lists the grounds on which a court may refuse to enforce it.
Disclosure is mentioned in none of the first two. It enters only at § 61.079(7)(a)3., and only as part of the unconscionability ground.
Why the Word “And” Decides This
The third ground has a structure people routinely misread. To defeat the agreement on it, the challenging party must show the agreement was unconscionable when it was executed and that, before execution, they were not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the other party’s property and financial obligations, and did not voluntarily and expressly waive further disclosure in writing, and did not have, and reasonably could not have had, an adequate knowledge of the other party’s property and financial obligations.
The clauses are conjunctive. Each one is an independent off-ramp for the party defending the agreement. A thin schedule paired with a written waiver of further disclosure fails the test. A thin schedule where the other spouse already knew the finances fails the test. And a thin schedule attached to an agreement that is not unconscionable fails at the first clause, before disclosure is ever reached.
That is why the honest answer to “do we have to disclose everything?” is: no, but the cost of not doing so is that you surrender the cheapest of four defences.
On the Death Side the Rule Reverses
The same document measured under the probate code produces the opposite answer. § 732.702(2) provides: “Each spouse shall make a fair disclosure to the other of that spouse’s estate if the agreement, contract, or waiver is executed after marriage. No disclosure shall be required for an agreement, contract, or waiver executed before marriage.”
So a premarital waiver of the elective share, homestead, intestate share, exempt property and family allowance carries no disclosure requirement at all — while the divorce-side provisions in the same document sit inside the four-part test above. Sign the identical agreement one day after the ceremony and the exemption disappears.
The formalities invert too. § 61.079(3) needs no witnesses; § 732.702(1) requires the waiving party to sign in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.
Other States Do Not Leave It This Loose
Florida’s approach is not universal, and the contrast shows what our statute chooses not to police. California treats process conditions as a matter of voluntariness: for agreements executed on or after 1 January 2020, the party against whom enforcement is sought must have had “not less than seven calendar days between the time that party was first presented with the final agreement and the time the agreement was signed, regardless of whether the party is represented by legal counsel” (Cal. Fam. Code § 1615(c)(2)), and must have been represented by independent counsel or have waived counsel in a separate writing (Cal. Fam. Code § 1615(c)(1)).
Florida has neither rule. This describes another state’s requirement and links its governing text; Pazos Law Group is admitted in Florida and does not advise on California law.
What to Exchange in Practice
Since disclosure is a defence rather than a formality, the point of doing it well is to close the argument before it starts. A schedule that does that lists accounts by institution and approximate balance, real property with encumbrances, business and entity interests with ownership percentage, retirement and deferred compensation, life insurance, anticipated inheritances or trust interests where known, and liabilities by lender.
Attach it, date it, reference it in the agreement, and keep each party’s copy. Where a party chooses not to itemise, the written waiver of further disclosure contemplated by § 61.079(7)(a)3.b. is the alternative the statute itself supplies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Florida prenup invalid if we did not exchange financial schedules?
Not on that basis alone. Inadequate disclosure is one clause of the conjunctive test in § 61.079(7)(a)3.; all of its elements must be shown.
Can we agree in writing not to disclose?
Yes. § 61.079(7)(a)3.b. contemplates a voluntary, express written waiver of any right to disclosure beyond what was provided.
Does the estate-planning part of the prenup need disclosure?
No, if it was executed before the marriage. § 732.702(2) requires disclosure only for agreements executed after marriage.
Does Florida require a waiting period before signing?
No. § 61.079 sets no minimum interval. California requires seven calendar days under Cal. Fam. Code § 1615(c)(2).
Primary Sources
- Fla. Stat. § 61.079 — premarital agreements; (3) formalities, (7)(a) grounds for refusing enforcement.
- Fla. Stat. § 732.702 — waiver of spousal rights; (1) two subscribing witnesses, (2) no disclosure required before marriage.
- Cal. Fam. Code § 1615 — California’s voluntariness conditions, including the seven-calendar-day rule.