Plantation Prenuptial Agreement Attorney

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated July 2026

Plantation is an established central-Broward suburb home to medical, corporate and legal professionals along with longtime homeowners. A prenuptial agreement helps these couples plan around careers, practices and property with confidence.

Prenuptial Agreements for Plantation Couples

A prenuptial agreement is a contract made before marriage that describes how a couple will handle property, income and debts if the marriage ends. Florida governs these agreements under Fla. Stat. § 61.079, which sets the standards for a valid and enforceable contract.

In Plantation, prenups often address professional practices, partnership interests, retirement accounts and the family home. Documenting these arrangements gives professionals clarity about what belongs to whom.

Why Plantation Couples Use Prenuptial Agreements

A professional practice or partnership interest can be difficult to value and divide. A prenuptial agreement lets a Plantation couple agree in advance on how a practice, ownership stake or retirement plan will be treated as separate or shared property.

It helps to understand how Florida separates marital from non-marital assets before signing. Our marital asset division calculator provides a general overview, and your own terms should be tailored with an attorney.

Read the Detailed Florida Prenup Requirements

Are Prenuptial Agreements Enforceable in Florida?

Yes. Since the Legislature adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act in 2007, one statute has answered the question for every county in the state, including Broward. Section 61.079(3) sets the bar: a writing, signed by both parties, enforceable “without consideration other than the marriage itself.” Section 61.079(5) adds that the agreement “becomes effective upon marriage of the parties.” Section 61.079(1) limits the statute to proceedings under the Florida Family Law Rules of Procedure.

Who Has the Burden of Proof Under § 61.079(7)(a)?

Under § 61.079(7)(a) the burden belongs to the spouse seeking to escape the agreement, who must prove one of three statutory grounds:

1. Under § 61.079(7)(a)1., that the challenger “did not execute the agreement voluntarily” — the ground most often argued when a document is signed on the eve of the wedding.
2. Under § 61.079(7)(a)2., that the agreement “was the product of fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching.”
3. Under § 61.079(7)(a)3., that the agreement “was unconscionable when it was executed,” combined with all three disclosure failures listed at subparagraphs a., b., and c.: no “fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party,” no written waiver of that disclosure, and no adequate knowledge of it.

The third ground is conjunctive. Unconscionability alone is not enough — all three lettered conditions in § 61.079(7)(a)3. have to be established as well, which is why a careful disclosure schedule is the single most protective drafting step. Under § 61.079(7)(c), unconscionability “shall be decided by the court as a matter of law,” so a Seventeenth Judicial Circuit judge rules on it directly.

Even a fully valid waiver of alimony has a floor. Section 61.079(7)(b) lets the court order support where the waiver would otherwise make a spouse eligible for a public assistance program. Time limits are suspended while the marriage lasts: § 61.079(9) tolls any applicable statute of limitations, though laches and estoppel remain available.

The statute does not reach postnuptial agreements. Section 61.079(2)(a) defines a premarital agreement as one “made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage,” so an agreement signed after the wedding is measured instead against Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987), under which a court may set an agreement aside for fraud, duress, or overreaching. The Legislature publishes the current version of § 61.079 at leg.state.fl.us.

Does a Florida Prenup Have to Be Notarized?

No — neither notarization nor witnesses are required by § 61.079(3). Some Plantation couples still notarize, and some sign in front of witnesses, purely to make the execution harder to attack. Under § 61.079(6), however, any later amendment or revocation must be in writing and signed by both parties.

What a Plantation Prenup Can and Cannot Cover

A Florida prenuptial agreement can address property, debt and spousal support, but it cannot predetermine child support or custody. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.13, those decisions rest on the best interests of the child at the relevant time.

What it cannot do is fix a child’s support or a parenting schedule in advance. Those issues remain with the court under the best-interests standard in Fla. Stat. § 61.13.

What Can a Prenup Cover Under § 61.079(4)(a)?

Florida does not leave the scope to guesswork. Section 61.079(4)(a) sets out eight subjects a Plantation couple may address:

• Property rights of either or both parties, “whenever and wherever acquired or located” (§ 61.079(4)(a)1.).
• Management and control — buying, selling, leasing, encumbering, or disposing of property (§ 61.079(4)(a)2.).
• Disposition of property “upon separation, marital dissolution, death, or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event” (§ 61.079(4)(a)3.).
• Spousal support, including its complete elimination (§ 61.079(4)(a)4.).
• Wills, trusts, and other arrangements carrying out the agreement (§ 61.079(4)(a)5.).
• Life insurance death benefits (§ 61.079(4)(a)6.).
• Choice of governing law (§ 61.079(4)(a)7.).
• Any other lawful matter, including personal rights and obligations (§ 61.079(4)(a)8.).

A Plantation couple can state that a practice, its accounts receivable, and its goodwill stay separate, and that a buy-sell agreement with partners controls over anything in the prenup. The definition in § 61.079(2)(b) covers contingent and future interests as well as present ones, and it names “income and earnings, both active and passive” explicitly. Very little of a Plantation balance sheet falls outside it.

Without an agreement, the default rules apply. Fla. Stat. § 61.075 requires the court to classify property before dividing it; § 61.075(6)(b) treats assets acquired before the marriage and property acquired separately by gift or inheritance as nonmarital, while § 61.075(6)(a)1.b. pulls the enhancement in value of a nonmarital asset into the marital estate when it results from marital labor or marital funds. Kaaa v. Kaaa, 58 So. 3d 867 (Fla. 2010), addresses how passive appreciation on a nonmarital property is treated when marital funds pay down the mortgage.

Alimony can be fixed or waived outright: § 61.079(4)(a)4. covers “the establishment, modification, waiver, or elimination of spousal support,” which takes the 2023 version of § 61.08 out of the picture except for the § 61.079(7)(b) floor. Choice of law under § 61.079(4)(a)7. pairs naturally with § 61.052(5), which lets a court enforce an antenuptial agreement to arbitrate under the law and tradition the parties choose.

What a Prenup Cannot Waive (§ 61.079(4)(b))

The statute carves out one subject entirely. Per § 61.079(4)(b): “The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.” Support is formulaic rather than negotiable. Section 61.30 supplies the guidelines schedule, and the inputs — each parent’s net income and the number of overnights — are found by the court, not fixed by contract.

A prenup also cannot set a parenting plan. Under § 61.13(2)(c), effective 1 July 2023, equal time-sharing is presumed to be in the child’s best interests unless the presumption is rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence.

The catch-all in § 61.079(4)(a)8. permits “any other matter” that does not violate public policy or a criminal law, and § 61.079(7)(b) preserves a support floor tied to public-assistance eligibility.

How Much Does a Prenup Cost in Plantation, Florida?

No public filing is involved, so there is no clerk’s fee. The document stays between the couple and their lawyers unless enforcement becomes an issue. The low end of the range covers a short agreement between two salaried people; the high end covers business interests, valuations, trust coordination, and multi-jurisdiction assets. Each spouse should retain separate counsel in Plantation. Scope is established during the consultation, once the balance sheet has been reviewed.

The work traces to three inputs: schedule length driven by § 61.079(7)(a)3.a., valuation work, and negotiation rounds. Practices with partners cost more, because the partnership or shareholder agreement has to be read before the prenup clause can be written.

Pazos Law Group determines the scope after learning what the agreement must address and confirms the fee before work begins. Starting early gives both parties more time for disclosure, independent review, and negotiation. Florida law sets no fixed waiting period, but the timing and circumstances of signing may be relevant to whether execution was voluntary under § 61.079(7)(a)1.

Florida Prenup Rules at a Glance

A short reference for Plantation couples, each line tied to the subsection that supplies it:

• Governing statute: Fla. Stat. § 61.079, which § 61.079(1) names the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act.
• Form: a writing signed by both parties, enforceable without consideration beyond the marriage (§ 61.079(3)).
• Notary or witnesses: not required anywhere in § 61.079(3).
• Effective date: the agreement takes effect on the marriage itself (§ 61.079(5)).
• Grounds to void: only the three listed in § 61.079(7)(a), proved by the party resisting enforcement.
• Cannot be waived: a child’s right to support (§ 61.079(4)(b)); support is set under § 61.30 and time-sharing under § 61.13(2)(c).
• Default without an agreement: equitable distribution under § 61.075 and alimony under § 61.08.
• Changing it later: only by a written agreement signed by both parties (§ 61.079(6)).
• Where it is filed: nowhere. A dissolution, by contrast, is filed with the Broward County Clerk in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.

Drafting an Agreement vs. Reviewing One

Drafting and reviewing are different tasks with different risks. Drafting means building the disclosure schedule that § 61.079(7)(a)3.a. makes advisable, choosing the governing law under § 61.079(4)(a)7., and writing the support terms permitted by § 61.079(4)(a)4. Reviewing means testing a document someone else wrote against the three defenses in § 61.079(7)(a) before a signature makes them harder to raise.

How Pazos Law Group Helps Plantation Couples

Nadia Pazos is AV Preeminent rated and brings roughly twenty years of Broward and South Florida family law experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where a Plantation Divorce Would Actually Be Heard

Plantation sits in Broward County, which is served by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. The courthouse most Plantation residents know is the West Regional Courthouse at 100 N. Pine Island Road, a few minutes from Plantation Midtown. That building handles traffic and misdemeanor matters, county civil cases, probate filings, and marriage license applications — and for many couples it is where the marriage license is issued in the first place.

It is not, however, where a dissolution of marriage is heard. Broward’s Family Division sits downtown at the Central Courthouse, 201 S.E. 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, in the West Building. The practical consequence for a Plantation couple is worth stating plainly: the county office that issues your marriage license on Pine Island Road is not the one that would later read your prenuptial agreement. That reading happens before a Broward family judge applying Fla. Stat. § 61.079, after the six-month Florida residency requirement in § 61.021 has been met.

This matters at the drafting stage rather than the filing stage. An agreement is built to survive the reading a judge would give it, and the disclosure schedule contemplated by § 61.079(7)(a)3.a. is the part of the document that does most of that work. A Plantation agreement drafted with the downtown courtroom in mind is a different document from one drafted to be signed and forgotten.

Equity Compensation in Plantation’s Technology and Trading Corridor

Plantation’s employment base is unusual for a Broward city of its size. The Plantation Midtown Development District — roughly 860 acres between Cleary Boulevard and I-595 — together with the Plantation Gateway district and the 160-acre Plantation Technology Park, hosts technology, trading and travel employers. Motorola Solutions opened a new research and customer experience center in the Technology Park in April 2026; TradeStation’s main office of record sits on S.W. 10th Street in Midtown, and Virgin Voyages’ corporate offices are on South Pine Island Road. Magic Leap is headquartered in the Technology Park. A meaningful share of Plantation professionals are therefore compensated in something other than salary: restricted stock units, options, and deferred compensation that vest across three or four years.

Deferred equity is where prenuptial drafting earns its keep, because a grant does not sit neatly on one side of the wedding date. A grant awarded before the marriage may not vest until well into it. Whether the vested shares are marital or nonmarital turns on what the vesting was actually compensating — service already performed, or service still to come — measured against the definitions in § 61.075(6). That is a fact-intensive question, and it is precisely the kind of question a couple can answer for themselves in advance instead of leaving it to be litigated years later.

A well-drafted Plantation prenuptial agreement does not simply say “stock is separate.” It identifies the grant, the grant date, the vesting schedule, and the treatment of shares that vest during the marriage, so that the answer does not depend on reconstructing an employer’s intent from a plan document years after the fact.

Plantation Acres, Historic Old Plantation, and the Pre-Marital Home

Alongside the Midtown apartments, Plantation retains large-lot single-family neighborhoods such as Plantation Acres and Historic Old Plantation, where lot sizes and older housing stock mean owners frequently arrive at a marriage already holding the house. The instinct is that a home owned before the wedding simply stays separate. Florida law is more particular than that.

Under § 61.075(6)(a)1.b., the enhancement in value and appreciation of a nonmarital asset is itself a marital asset to the extent it results from the efforts of either spouse during the marriage or from the contribution of marital funds. On an acre-plus Plantation Acres parcel, that enhancement is rarely trivial: the addition, the new roof, the pool, the septic-to-sewer conversion, and the mortgage payments made from a joint account after the wedding all feed into it.

A prenuptial agreement can address this directly — confirming that the residence remains separate property, and stating what happens to marital contributions made to it. It is also worth deciding in advance how a later refinance or a change in title will be treated, since § 61.079(6) requires that any amendment to the agreement be in writing and signed by both parties. A quitclaim signed at a closing table is not an amendment to a prenuptial agreement, and couples are often surprised to learn it.

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Plan Around Your Plantation Career

For professionals with a practice, partnership or significant savings, a prenuptial agreement is a sensible planning tool. We help Plantation couples reach agreements that are clear, balanced and sound under Florida law so they can focus on their careers and their marriage.

Postnuptial Agreements in Plantation

Not everyone asking about a prenup in Plantation is still engaged. The instrument for that situation is a postnuptial agreement — the same financial planning, signed after the wedding rather than before.

The statute and the case law divide along one line. Under § 61.079(2)(a), Fla. Stat. § 61.079 covers only agreements made in contemplation of marriage, which leaves postnuptial agreements to Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987). Casto permits a Plantation court to void an agreement for fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching, or where the bargain is unfair and full financial disclosure was not made.

A Plantation postnuptial agreement can classify separate and marital property, allocate debt, address a business, and define or waive spousal support that would otherwise fall under § 61.08. What it cannot do is affect a child’s right to support — that right belongs to the child and is calculated under § 61.30 regardless of what the spouses agree.

More on Florida postnuptial agreements →

Prenuptial Agreements in Nearby Communities

Premarital agreements are governed by the same statute in every South Florida county. Nearby communities:

• Davie Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• Fort Lauderdale Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• Hollywood Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• Las Olas Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• Miramar Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• Pembroke Pines Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
• All Florida Prenuptial Agreement Services

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Related Prenuptial Agreement Resources

• prenup drafting for Weston couples — disclosure, negotiation and enforceability.
• every South Florida community we serve — city-by-city coverage across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Informational content, not legal advice. A prenuptial agreement’s enforceability under Fla. Stat. § 61.079 depends on the parties’ disclosures and the circumstances at execution, and the outcome in any Broward County case turns on its own facts. No attorney-client relationship is created by reading this page. Florida statutes are amended regularly; check the current text before relying on it.