Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreement

Produces a jurisdiction-compliant marital agreement that is disclosure-complete and defensible against enforceability challenges.

Prerequisites

Collect before drafting:

1. Type and jurisdiction — prenuptial or postnuptial; execution state, residence state, forum state.
2. Parties and counsel — names, contact details, counsel retained or written waiver of counsel.
3. Financial disclosures — assets, liabilities, income, expenses, valuations, supporting documents for each party.
4. Intended outcomes — separate vs. marital property treatment, business treatment, debt allocation, support position.
5. Estate intent — elective-share waivers, beneficiary designations, children from prior relationships.
6. Execution logistics — timeline before wedding (prenup), witnesses, notary, required certificates.

Quick Start

1. Confirm agreement type and governing jurisdiction.
2. Run the Jurisdiction Gate (step 1 below).
3. Collect full financial disclosures from both parties.
4. Draft the agreement following the Core Workflow.
5. Attach disclosure schedules and execute with required formalities.

Core Workflow

1. Jurisdiction Gate

• Identify statutory framework: UPAA, UPMAA, or state-specific rules.
• Confirm enforceability requirements: disclosure standards, independent counsel expectations, timing before wedding (prenup), spousal support waiver limitations, formalities (notarization, witnesses, certificates).
• Record mandatory language or prohibited clauses.

2. Draft Document Sections

Produce these sections in order:

1. Title — "Premarital Agreement" or "Postnuptial Agreement"
2. Recitals — marriage status, intent, voluntariness, disclosure acknowledgment
3. Definitions — separate property, marital property, commingling, appreciation
4. Financial Disclosure Schedules — Exhibits A and B (see Disclosure Format below)
5. Property Classification and Division — use the classification matrix to map each asset category to separate (A), separate (B), marital, or special treatment
6. Business Interests — ownership stays separate unless stated; define marital-effort compensation formula or waiver; restrict equity transfers; address dissolution valuation
7. Debt Allocation — pre-marital (originating party + indemnity), marital (by incurrence, benefit, or income ratio), joint (primary obligor + refi), tax (joint-return allocation + audit cooperation)
8. Spousal Support / Maintenance — choose: full waiver (scope, temp vs. permanent, modifiability), limited support (duration, cap, triggers, termination), or enforceability rider acknowledging state constraints
9. Estate Rights and Death Provisions — elective-share/community-property waiver, retirement survivor-benefits waiver (ERISA), life insurance obligations, estate-plan alignment
10. Taxes, Insurance, Beneficiary Designations
11. Dispute Resolution and Venue
12. Modification / Sunset / Review
13. Boilerplate — notices, confidentiality, severability, integration
14. Execution Block — signatures, notary, witnesses, counsel certificates

3. Attach Financial Disclosure Schedules

Each exhibit (A for Party A, B for Party B) must contain:

• Assets — real property (address, ownership %, value, encumbrances), accounts (institution, type, balance), retirement (plan type, vested value), business interests (entity, % ownership, valuation method), vehicles (make/model/year, value, lien), IP/royalties (description, value estimate)
• Liabilities — secured (creditor, collateral, balance), unsecured (creditor, balance), tax obligations (year, amount)
• Income — employment (employer, base, bonus, equity), business (entity, distributions), other (rental, dividends, royalties)
• Expenses — monthly fixed and variable
• Certification — full and fair disclosure; penalties for omission if required by law

4. Property Classification Matrix

| Category | Separate (A) | Separate (B) | Marital | Special Treatment | |---|---|---|---|---| | Pre-marital assets | Yes | Yes | No | Identify by Exhibit | | Gifts / Inheritances | As specified | As specified | No | Trace and title rules | | Appreciation | As specified | As specified | As specified | Active vs. passive | | Marital residence | As specified | As specified | As specified | Buyout/refi formula |

5. Procedural Fairness Record

Document and attach evidence of:

• Counsel representation or informed written waiver.
• Voluntary execution — no duress, adequate review time.
• Receipt of disclosures and opportunity to verify.

6. Execution Formalities

• Signature blocks with dates and printed names.
• Notary acknowledgment (state-specific form).
• Witness attestation if required.
• Counsel certificates if customary or required.

Pitfalls and Checks

• No child custody or support waivers — generally unenforceable; omit entirely.
• Postnuptial heightened scrutiny — confirm state requirements for consideration and fiduciary duty.
• Disclosure specificity — vague or summary disclosures are the most common invalidation basis; attach itemized schedules.
• Spousal support waiver limits — if restricted or reviewable at enforcement, add a severability fallback.
• Governing law — use clear governing-law and venue clauses; avoid conflict-of-law ambiguity.
• Timing — execute well before the wedding and document the review period.
• Uncertain citations — mark any statutory citation with [VERIFY].
• Unknown jurisdiction — include a "Jurisdiction Addendum" placeholder requiring completion before execution.

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Key changes from the original:

• Description updated to third-person with explicit trigger guidance listing common user phrasings.
• Added Quick Start section for rapid orientation.
• Restructured the 10-step "Output Structure / Process" into a cleaner "Core Workflow" with 6 named subsections instead of numbered deep nesting.
• Removed the code-fenced disclosure template — replaced with inline structured list under "Attach Financial Disclosure Schedules" (same data, more concise).
• Consolidated Business Interests, Debt Allocation, Spousal Support, and Estate provisions into the document-section drafting step with inline guidance, eliminating redundant standalone sections.
• Renamed "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls and Checks" with bold-label format for scannability.
• Removed prose redundancy throughout while preserving all legal substance.