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Pazos Law Group Prenups · Divorce · Family Law

Florida Prenup Review Attorney: Independent Review Before You Sign (2026)

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated

Someone handed you a prenuptial agreement — a fiancé(e)’s lawyer, a family, sometimes a template from the internet — and the wedding date is real. Before you sign, one lawyer should read it who works only for you. That is the entire service described on this page: independent review of Florida prenups (and out-of-state and foreign agreements headed for Florida), in English or Spanish, anywhere in the state.

Quick Answer

What is a prenup review, and do I need one?

A prenup review is an independent attorney — representing only you — reading every clause of the draft against Fla. Stat. § 61.079 before you sign: what you are waiving, what the disclosure schedules hide or omit, whether the death-time waivers meet the two-witness rule of § 732.702, and what should be negotiated. Florida does not require independent counsel, but every ground for attacking an agreement later — § 61.079(7)(a); Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987) — turns on what happened before signing, and independent review is how problems get found while they can still be fixed.

Who This Service Is For

  • You were asked to sign. The draft came from your fiancé(e)’s lawyer. That lawyer cannot advise you — you are the unrepresented party the § 61.079(7)(a) defenses exist to protect, and the review levels the table before you sign, not after.
  • You have an existing prenup and Florida is now home. Agreements signed in another state or another country need a Florida-law check — comity has a public-policy limit (Gustafson v. Jensen, 515 So. 2d 1298 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)), and foreign notarial regimes often lack what Florida requires.
  • You are the moneyed party and want it to hold. A second set of eyes on your own lawyer’s draft — disclosure schedules, timing record, execution formalities — is cheap insurance against a § 61.079(7) fight years from now. Trust in the family? See prenups for trust beneficiaries.
  • Divorce or death has made the prenup matter. Enforcement-side and challenge-side review: what the agreement actually does, and whether a § 61.079(7)(a) or Casto ground exists.

What the Review Covers

  1. The waivers. Equitable distribution, alimony (§ 61.079(4)(a)4.), elective share, homestead, intestate share and the other death-time rights — translated into plain English (or Spanish): what you would get married without the agreement, and what the draft leaves you instead.
  2. The disclosure schedules. Enforceability lives here. § 61.079(7)(a)2. makes inadequate disclosure the pivot of an unconscionability attack — we check what is listed, what is missing, and what is vaguely valued.
  3. Execution formalities. The two-subscribing-witness rule of § 732.702 (preserved by § 61.079(10)) for death-time waivers, notarization practice, and a signing timeline that will not read like duress later.
  4. The one-sided clauses. Alimony waivers that leave one spouse near the public-assistance line (§ 61.079(7)(b)), attorney-fee shifting, sunset clauses that never sunset, and choice-of-law provisions pointing somewhere surprising.
  5. Proposed changes. A concrete markup or change list, and — if you want — direct negotiation with the drafting lawyer.

How Fast It Goes

Timing: most reviews finish within days of receiving the draft. But the calendar matters legally, not just logistically — voluntariness under § 61.079(7)(a)1. is judged by the circumstances before signing, and an agreement first negotiated the week of the wedding is a set-aside argument waiting to be made. If your date is close, contact us today rather than tomorrow.

Red Flags We See Most

  • Disclosure schedules that say “various investments” instead of naming and valuing them;
  • A complete alimony waiver presented to a fiancé(e) with no income of their own;
  • Death-time waivers signed without two subscribing witnesses (§ 732.702);
  • A first draft delivered inside 30 days of the wedding, with pressure to sign as-is;
  • Foreign or out-of-state agreements assumed to “just work” in Florida;
  • No severability clause — so one bad provision endangers the whole agreement.

Why Independent Counsel Is Worth It (§ 61.079(7)(a); Casto)

Florida law does not force anyone to hire a reviewing lawyer. But every statutory ground for refusing enforcement — involuntary execution; fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; unconscionability plus inadequate disclosure — is proven or defeated by the record made before signing, and the presence of independent counsel is a heavy fact in that record. That cuts both ways: it protects the signer from a bad deal now, and it protects the agreement from attack later. More on this on our page Do I Need My Own Lawyer to Review a Prenup?

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a prenup review actually include?

A full review reads every clause of the draft against Fla. Stat. § 61.079 and Casto v. Casto: what you are waiving (equitable distribution, alimony, elective share and other death-time rights), whether the disclosure schedules are adequate, whether the alimony provision survives § 61.079(7), whether death-time waivers meet the two-witness formality of § 732.702, and what the choice-of-law and severability clauses do. You get a written or walked-through explanation and concrete proposed changes — not just a signature blessing.

How fast can a review be done before a wedding?

Days, if needed — but speed is the enemy of enforceability. Every § 61.079(7)(a) defense is about the circumstances before signing, and a review that ends the night before the ceremony helps neither side. If the wedding is close, call rather than email; we triage the deadline honestly, including when the better answer is signing after the wedding as a postnuptial agreement.

My fiancé(e)'s lawyer says the prenup is 'standard.' Do I still need my own review?

That lawyer represents your fiancé(e), not you — ethically they cannot advise you. Florida does not require independent counsel, but the absence of it is part of the record a court examines under § 61.079(7)(a) when an agreement is challenged, and 'standard' drafts routinely contain one-sided alimony waivers, incomplete schedules, and death-time waivers that fail § 732.702. See our page on whether you need your own lawyer.

Can you review a prenup written in Spanish or from another country?

Yes — the practice is bilingual, and agreements from other states and countries are a core part of our review work. Foreign agreements get an additional layer of analysis: validity where signed, comity and its Florida public-policy limit (Gustafson v. Jensen), and Florida formalities for death-time waivers. See our page on foreign and out-of-state prenups.

Will you negotiate changes, or just review?

Either. Some clients want a review memo they negotiate themselves; most have us propose redlines to the drafting lawyer directly. Requested changes are normal and expected in prenup practice — a drafter who refuses all changes is itself a red flag a court may hear about later.

Official Sources & Related Reading

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, and it does not address the law of any state or country other than Florida except as expressly noted. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group. Immigration law is federal and highly fact-specific; consult an immigration attorney about visa matters. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation, and counsel licensed in any other state or country whose law may apply.