Prenup Review vs. Prenup Drafting in Florida: What Each Includes and Who It Is For
Quick Answer
Do I need drafting or review? Drafting develops an agreement from your circumstances and proposed terms. Independent review examines an existing agreement from your perspective: what it means, what information is missing and what changes you may want. Review can lead to revisions and negotiation, but those services should be expressly included in the engagement.
Pazos Law Group, a family law firm in Coral Gables led by Founder and Managing Partner Nadia Pazos, drafts Florida prenups and independently reviews agreements prepared by another lawyer. The firm serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach; the starting point is whether you need an agreement prepared or advice about a draft already in hand.
| Question | Drafting | Independent review |
|---|---|---|
| Who is it for? | Someone who needs a proposed agreement prepared. | Someone who has received or already prepared a draft. |
| What is the starting material? | Your objectives, financial information and relevant supporting documents. | The complete draft, exhibits, financial schedules and your concerns. |
| What does the lawyer examine? | How to express the intended terms and address foreseeable changes. | How existing clauses affect you and whether the documents support an informed decision. |
| What work product is involved? | A proposed agreement and supporting schedules, followed by revisions within scope. | Advice about the draft; a change list or marked-up version if included. |
| Is negotiation included? | The engagement should identify the included exchanges and revisions. | Advice alone and review with negotiation are different scopes. |
| Whose interests does counsel address? | The drafting lawyer’s client. | The reviewing lawyer’s own client. |
What prenup drafting includes
Drafting begins with a discussion of your circumstances and the terms you want to propose. That may involve premarital assets, future earnings, a business, family gifts, trust interests or property outside Florida. The lawyer needs enough detail to distinguish an existing asset from an expectation or a contingent interest.
The work then turns those instructions into proposed language and identifies supporting disclosure. For example, a business owner may need provisions addressing later sales and replacement equity. Someone expecting family distributions may need coordination with estate counsel. The first draft is a proposal for the other person to consider with separate advice.
What independent prenup review includes
Review starts with the entire document package, including schedules and incorporated exhibits. The reviewing lawyer discusses how the provisions affect your property, support and rights at death, and compares the language with what you understand the agreement to mean.
Questions may concern missing financial information, an undefined asset, a broad waiver or provisions that operate differently after a wedding anniversary. The purpose is to give you advice about your choices before signing. A review is not a guarantee that a court will enforce every provision.
Review, revisions and negotiation are different steps
Advice may identify a concern without changing the document. Revisions put a proposed solution into words. Negotiation involves communicating with the other lawyer and considering counterproposals. Confirm which steps your engagement includes and who will communicate proposed changes.
For example, a draft might exclude a business from division but leave its later sale proceeds undefined. Review identifies that question; a revision proposes language; negotiation determines whether the parties agree. This illustration describes a process, not a promised result.
Why independent counsel matters
Your fiancé’s lawyer represents your fiancé. Separate counsel provides advice directed to your own interests and gives you a place to discuss concerns privately. Each person can then decide whether the proposed terms are acceptable.
Florida Statutes § 61.079(3) does not make separate lawyers a universal signing requirement. Independent advice nevertheless matters when assessing waivers, disclosure and alternatives. Having lawyers involved does not remove the enforcement requirements in § 61.079(7).
Disclosure, timing and signing
Section 61.079 sets no fixed waiting period before the wedding. Allow time for documents, advice and possible changes. Its unconscionability ground combines that finding with specified disclosure, waiver and knowledge conditions; missing disclosure is not automatically the entire statutory test.
Signing requirements also depend on the provisions. For waivers of specified rights at death, § 732.702(1) requires two subscribing witnesses for Florida residents within its scope. It separately addresses nonresident execution. Tell counsel where each person lives and where signing will occur.
What to bring and where to begin
Bring the wedding date, any existing draft, financial schedules, asset-and-debt information and documents for businesses, trusts or foreign property. Identify your priorities and any requested deadline. If tax or transaction questions arise, coordinate with tax or transaction counsel; this page is not tax advice.
- Independent review of an existing prenup
- Florida prenup drafting
- Prenups for business owners
- Prenups for founders and equity owners
Nadia Pazos is licensed in Florida and New York. Pazos Law Group’s one office is at 7225 Vistalmar St, Coral Gables FL 33143. Call (305) 482-1262 to discuss the scope appropriate to your documents and circumstances.
Attorney advertising. General information, not legal or tax advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.