Sunny Isles Beach Prenuptial Agreement Attorney

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 Miami-Dade. Formation is straightforward. Under § 61.079(3) the agreement “must be in writing and signed by both parties” and needs no consideration “other than the marriage itself.” Under § 61.079(5) it “becomes effective upon marriage of the parties,” so the document sits dormant between signing and the ceremony.

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

It falls on the challenger, not on the spouse relying on the document. Under § 61.079(7)(a) an agreement is unenforceable only where “the party against whom enforcement is sought proves” one of the following:

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 the one most often argued and the hardest to win, because § 61.079(7)(a)3. requires unconscionability plus the absence of disclosure, plus the absence of a written waiver, plus the absence of adequate knowledge. Under § 61.079(7)(c), unconscionability “shall be decided by the court as a matter of law,” so an Eleventh Judicial Circuit judge rules on it directly.

There is a public-assistance floor. Under § 61.079(7)(b), a court may order support notwithstanding the agreement if the waiver would leave a spouse “eligible for support under a program of public assistance” at separation or dissolution. Two housekeeping provisions round out the section: § 61.079(9) tolls limitations during the marriage, and § 61.079(10) leaves the formalities of spousal agreements under the Probate Code untouched.

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 official text of the statute is available from the Florida Legislature 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 Sunny Isles Beach 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 Sunny Isles Beach Prenup Can and Cannot Cover

A Sunny Isles prenup can classify foreign accounts, a luxury condo, and pre-marital investments as separate, direct how they pass on divorce or death, and set or waive spousal support. It can protect a business interest and inheritance, allocate life-insurance benefits, and include a choice-of-law provision that suits a multinational couple.

It cannot decide child support or time-sharing in advance. Those matters stay with the court under the best-interests standard of Fla. Stat. § 61.13.

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

Section 61.079(4)(a) lists eight subjects that prospective spouses “may contract with respect to.” They are, in the statute’s order:

• Section 61.079(4)(a)1. — rights and obligations in property, wherever and whenever acquired.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)2. — the right to sell, assign, encumber, consume, or otherwise control property.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)3. — disposition of property on separation, dissolution, death, or any other stated event.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)4. — “the establishment, modification, waiver, or elimination of spousal support.”
• Section 61.079(4)(a)5. — wills, trusts, or other arrangements that carry out the agreement.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)6. — ownership rights in and disposition of a life insurance death benefit.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)7. — the law governing construction of the agreement.
• Section 61.079(4)(a)8. — “any other matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation of either the public policy of this state or a law imposing a criminal penalty.”

A Sunny Isles Beach couple can state the purchase currency and exchange date for a unit bought abroad, so that later currency movement does not create an argument about what is marital. Section 61.079(2)(b) is the sleeper provision: property includes interests that are “present or future, legal or equitable, vested or contingent” and expressly includes “income and earnings, both active and passive.” A Sunny Isles Beach agreement can therefore reach things the couple does not yet own.

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. Section 61.052(5) also allows a Sunny Isles Beach couple to agree to arbitrate: a court “may enforce an antenuptial agreement to arbitrate a dispute in accordance with the law and tradition chosen by the parties.”

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

The limit is stated in a single line. Under § 61.079(4)(b), “The right of a child to support may not be adversely affected by a premarital agreement.” A clause purporting to cap or waive child support has no effect. The number comes from the § 61.30 guidelines and is recalculated on the facts in front of the court.

The same is true of the parenting schedule. Section 61.13(2)(c) has, since 1 July 2023, started the analysis from a rebuttable presumption of equal time-sharing, applied to the facts as they exist at the time of the case.

There is one further limit on the adult terms. Section 61.079(7)(b) allows a court to order support notwithstanding a waiver where the waiver would leave a spouse eligible for public assistance, and § 61.079(4)(a)8. bars any term that violates “the public policy of this state or a law imposing a criminal penalty.”