Does Florida Law Require a Lawyer for a Prenup?

Does Florida Law Require a Lawyer for a Prenup?

No Florida statute requires that either party have a lawyer. Florida’s premarital agreement act says the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties. The statute says nothing about lawyers. The probate waiver statute, which controls at a death, has the same silence.

The absence of a requirement does not mean both sides going without a lawyer is wise. A court will not throw out an agreement just because one or both spouses skipped counsel.

One lawyer cannot represent both. Every money term in a prenup puts the two parties on opposite sides. The lawyer who drafts for one spouse owes that spouse loyalty, and the Florida Bar’s conflict rules forbid acting for two clients whose interests are directly opposed.

The firm represents one spouse only. If you are the drafting spouse, the fee is a flat fee from $2,450 and covers the first draft, up to two rounds of revisions with the other spouse’s lawyer, the financial disclosure schedules, and a signing with two witnesses and a notary. If you are the spouse asked to sign, a review runs a flat fee from $750. When the other side needs a lawyer, the firm gives a list of names. The firm never gives one name.

A free consultation by phone sorts out which service fits your situation.

Why Can’t One Lawyer Represent Both Spouses?

A prenup decides who keeps what at a divorce and who inherits what at a death. On every clause the two parties are bargaining against each other. One wants the broadest waiver; the other wants the narrowest.

A lawyer owes loyalty to the client. Loyalty includes confidential advice, negotiation on the client’s behalf, and silence about what the client shares. None of that is possible when the lawyer sits between two people whose interests conflict.

The Florida Bar’s conflict rules govern every Florida lawyer. The firm does not act for both sides. When a couple asks whether the firm can draft one agreement for both, the answer is no. The firm drafts for one spouse or reviews for one spouse. The other spouse gets a list of lawyers to choose from. The list is never one name, because the choice is theirs.

Sharing a lawyer leaves one spouse unrepresented and the other with a lawyer who cannot fully advocate. The arrangement is likely to become a fight later.

What Does a Prenup Lawyer Do for the Signing Spouse?

The lawyer for the spouse asked to sign does three things before the wedding and one thing at the signing.

First, the lawyer reads the disclosure. The other side’s financial schedule lists income, assets, debts and an approximation of net worth. The lawyer checks whether anything obvious is missing, whether the values look plausible, and whether the schedule matches what the client already knows.

Second, the lawyer measures the agreement against Florida’s defaults. Without a prenup, a surviving spouse can claim 30 percent of the elective estate. A surviving spouse is entitled to up to $20,000 in exempt property and up to $18,000 in family allowance. If the decedent owned the home, the survivor takes a life estate in the homestead or an elected one-half interest. At a divorce, everything acquired during the marriage is presumed marital and starts from an equal split. The lawyer shows the client, in dollars where the numbers are known, what the agreement gives up.

Third, the lawyer negotiates. The firm’s drafting fee covers up to two rounds of revisions. The signing spouse’s lawyer marks up the draft, the drafting side responds, and the process repeats until the parties agree or walk away.

At the signing the lawyer signs a certification that the lawyer advised the client of the rights being waived. The certification becomes part of the agreement itself.

The review fee is a flat fee from $750. The fee covers a full review, a written analysis in plain English, and a call with the attorney.

Does Having a Lawyer Make a Prenup Enforceable?

Having a lawyer helps prove the agreement was voluntary. Having a lawyer is not proof the agreement will hold.

A wife in a 2005 case had her own lawyer. Her lawyer negotiated the agreement on her behalf. When she later claimed duress, the Florida Third District Court of Appeal rejected the claim. “A review of the record shows that the wife was represented by counsel of her choice and that the former wife's counsel actively participated in the negotiations of the agreement.”

A wife in a 2013 case also had lawyers. Two of them told her not to sign. Her husband, the owner of a technology company, understated his income and omitted about $6.5 million in receivables from his disclosure. The wife signed anyway and gave up her interest in property later valued at about $48 million for $3 million in installments. The Florida First District Court of Appeal set the agreement aside for overreaching and nondisclosure.

The difference is disclosure, not lawyers. Having a lawyer is the easiest proof the signer understood what the agreement said and chose to sign. Having a lawyer is not proof the other side told the truth, and having a lawyer is not proof the signer’s own lawyer gave good advice.

A court looks at what the challenger knew, when, and whether skipping information hurt them. Counsel is one fact in that picture.

Can You Get Out of a Prenup If You Didn’t Have a Lawyer?

Skipping a lawyer is not a free pass to undo the agreement later.

The Florida Supreme Court put it plainly in 1987. “This Court has expressly held that incompetent legal advice is not a basis to vacate an agreement in a dissolution proceeding.” If bad advice does not undo an agreement, no advice does not either.

The Florida Second District Court of Appeal said the same thing in 2007. A dentist worth about $800,000 and a hygienist worth about $12,000 signed with a sign-or-no-marriage ultimatum within 24 hours of the wedding. The agreement was voidable, but not because of counsel. “As the Husband correctly points out on appeal, the lack of competent counsel is an erroneous basis for setting aside such an agreement.”

The spouse who skips a lawyer to save $750 cannot later argue the agreement should be thrown out on that ground alone. A court will ask whether the agreement was the product of fraud, duress, coercion or overreaching, and whether the signer had a fair and reasonable disclosure or adequate knowledge of the other side’s property. Lack of a lawyer is not on that list.

The risk runs the other way. Without a lawyer the signing spouse has no one to explain what Florida law gives by default, no one to compare the agreement to those defaults, and no certification in the file. The spouse who wants the agreement to hold should want the other side represented.

What Happened to the Electrician Who Signed Without a Lawyer?

An electrician in a 1990 case signed a marital settlement agreement without a lawyer. His wife’s lawyer told him he could come back to court later to change it. The electrician signed. The agreement left him about $112 a week. The electrician moved to set it aside.

The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal set it aside for misrepresentation and overreaching. The court stated a principle that still applies. “Unless both spouses have separate counsel at the time of preparation and execution of the agreement, the marital relationship remains in a non-adversarial stance, and each party has fiduciary-like responsibility to the other.”

The wife’s lawyer told him something that was not true. The electrician relied on the statement. The combination of a false statement and reliance, not the absence of a lawyer by itself, is what the court found overreaching.

The lesson for a prenup is narrower than it looks. The electrician was not undone because he lacked a lawyer. The electrician was undone because the other side’s lawyer misled him about his ability to reopen the agreement.

What the case does teach is that the spouse with a lawyer and the spouse without are not on equal footing. The unrepresented spouse is trusting the other side’s lawyer not to mislead, and that trust is exactly what courts call a fiduciary stance. A flat fee from $750 review buys an advocate whose job is to look out for the signer alone.

How Do You Make a Prenup Hold Up in Florida

A 1962 Florida case shows what careful practice looks like. A 71-year-old widower wanted to marry his housekeeper. His lawyer sat with her, explained the homestead waiver, and twice urged her to get her own lawyer. The housekeeper chose not to. The lawyer had her sign an itemized asset statement listing $248,470, with two witnesses present.

The Florida Second District Court of Appeal enforced it. The court wrote, “In the present case the evidence as to full and fair disclosure is overwhelming.”

The case is from 1962, before Florida adopted the premarital agreement act. The lesson still describes the firm’s practice today. Disclosure is documented on a signed exhibit, every waiver is explained, the other spouse is given a list of lawyers, and two subscribing witnesses sign at the execution. A prenup holds up when the paper trail shows exactly what each side knew and when they knew it.

Does Prenup Mediation Work in Florida

A mediator is a neutral. The mediator helps two people find terms they both accept and gives legal advice to neither. Mediation can help a couple agree on what they want the agreement to say, and it may reduce conflict at the start of a marriage.

A mediated prenup still needs a drafter. Somebody has to turn the terms into a written agreement that satisfies Florida’s formalities and coordinates with each party’s estate plan. The drafter is a lawyer, and that lawyer represents one spouse. The other spouse still needs their own lawyer if they want someone measuring the draft against Florida’s default rules and advising them before they sign.

The firm drafts for one spouse or reviews for one spouse. The firm does not mediate prenups. A mediated marital agreement ratified by a court judgment is very hard to undo later; a Florida appellate court held that a different rule, not the grounds for setting aside an agreement before judgment, controls after the judgment is entered.

Can You Write Your Own Prenup or Use an Online Form in Florida

Florida law does not require a lawyer. An online form or an AI draft is not automatically invalid. Whether it holds depends on what it says and how it was signed.

A 2021 Florida case involved an online form. An 83-year-old man woke his fiancée at 7 a.m. on the wedding day in Massachusetts and refused to marry unless she signed. The fiancée generated a form online, and they signed before a notary only, with no witnesses, a few hours before the ceremony. The man later died in Florida without a will. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that Florida law governed because his Florida homestead was at stake. Her coercion claim failed. The agreement’s own clause saying the residence “shall not be affected by this Agreement” controlled over the general waiver, so she kept her homestead rights. In a footnote the court wrote, “We found no case law supporting the contention that one party’s signature on a contract can qualify as a subscribing witness to the other party’s signature.”

An online form cannot ask about the home you own in Florida or the will you signed years ago. A template cannot measure the agreement against the 30 percent elective share, the intestate share, the homestead descent rules, the exempt property, or the family allowance.

Who Pays for a Prenup Lawyer in Florida

The firm’s client pays the firm’s flat fee. The other spouse pays their own lawyer. Each side bears their own cost.

Some couples agree that the spouse who wants the agreement pays both fees. The arrangement is common enough, and it does not make the second lawyer the first lawyer’s agent. The second lawyer still owes a duty to the spouse they represent. What matters is that each side has a lawyer whose loyalty runs to that side.

At this firm, a flat fee from $2,450 covers drafting the agreement for one spouse, including the disclosure schedules, up to two rounds of revisions with the other spouse’s lawyer, and the signing before two witnesses and a notary. A flat fee from $750 covers reviewing the other side’s draft, a written analysis in plain English, and a call with the attorney. The fees were posted October 6, 2026 and are honored for 90 days. Government costs are additional.

How Long Does It Take to Get a Prenup with a Lawyer

The lawyer needs the disclosure and the draft weeks before the wedding. The firm’s timetable is to start six months before, sign at least a month before, and never inside two weeks. The time is needed to gather the financial information, draft, send to the other side’s lawyer, negotiate revisions, and schedule the signing.

A 2013 Florida case shows what happens when the lawyer’s advice arrives late. The final draft of an agreement was handed over at 11:30 p.m. the night before a Las Vegas wedding. The wife’s lawyer had advised her not to sign. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal set the prenup aside. The court wrote, “Here, the former husband did not offer any evidence to demonstrate that the former wife voluntarily signed the agreement.”

Ten days can be enough when the terms have been under discussion. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held in a 2009 case that “a trial court does not abuse its discretion by declaring that a period of ten days prior to the marriage is sufficient time for one to exercise the opportunity to review the agreement”. The question is whether the signing spouse had a real chance to read, to ask questions, and to walk away.

What Is the Firm’s Process for a Florida Prenup

For the spouse who wants to draft the agreement

1. Free consultation by phone to discuss the couple’s situation, any children from earlier relationships, and what the agreement should accomplish. 2. The firm gathers the financial information and prepares the disclosure schedules. 3. The firm drafts the agreement and sends it to the client for review. 4. The firm sends the draft and disclosures to the other spouse’s lawyer, chosen by the other spouse from a list the firm provides. 5. The other lawyer responds with comments, and the firm negotiates up to two rounds of revisions. 6. Both parties sign the agreement before two witnesses and a notary, in person or from home before a Florida online notary.

For the spouse who received a draft

1. Free consultation by phone to review the draft and explain what it gives up against Florida’s default rules. 2. The firm provides a written analysis measuring the agreement against the elective share, the homestead rules, the intestate share, and the alimony waiver. 3. The firm negotiates changes with the other side’s lawyer on the client’s behalf. 4. Both parties sign the agreement before two witnesses and a notary.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Situations

A nurse was handed a 40-page prenup by her fiancé’s lawyer three weeks before the wedding. The nurse paid the review fee, and the attorney measured the agreement against Florida’s defaults, spotted three clauses that waived more than she knew, and negotiated changes in the two rounds included in her fiancé’s lawyer’s fee. The nurse signed with her eyes open.

A couple wanted one lawyer to save money. The firm explained that one lawyer cannot serve both, that the drafter owes loyalty to the spouse who hired them, and that the other spouse needs independent advice. The couple each hired a lawyer, exchanged disclosures, and signed a month before the wedding with two witnesses and a notary.

Sources of Law

• Premarital agreements: Fla. Stat. §61.079 (2026) (definition, the matters an agreement may cover, the enforcement grounds in subsection (7), amendment and revocation by a signed writing without consideration).
• Waiver of spousal rights at death: Fla. Stat. §732.702 (2026) (a written waiver signed before two subscribing witnesses; fair disclosure required only when the waiver is signed after marriage; "all rights" language waives the elective share, intestate share, pretermitted share, homestead, exempt property, family allowance and preference as personal representative).
• Remote witnessing: Fla. Stat. §117.285(5) (2026) (the screening questions a remote online notary must ask a vulnerable adult signing a document that waives spousal rights).
• Cases, each read in full from the opinion files under reference/caselaw/: Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987); Del Vecchio v. Del Vecchio, 143 So. 2d 17 (Fla. 1962); Flaherty v. Flaherty, 128 So. 3d 920 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013); Gordon v. Gordon, 25 So. 3d 615 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); Bakos v. Bakos, 950 So. 2d 1257 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Williams-Paris v. Joseph, No. 4D20-1760 (Fla. 4th DCA Nov. 17, 2021); Herrera v. Herrera, 895 So. 2d 1171 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005); Johnson v. Johnson, 140 So. 2d 358 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962); Tenneboe v. Tenneboe, 558 So. 2d 470 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990); Kearney v. Kearney, 129 So. 3d 381 (Fla. 1st DCA 2013).
• Fees: the firm's posted fee schedule, posted October 6, 2026 and honored 90 days from posting; government costs are additional and passed through at cost. Secure Will Estate Plan and lady bird deed fees on the pricing page.
Statute text compared with the 2026 Florida Statutes on 2026-11-11.

Related Guides

Prenup Review by a Florida Attorney Before You Sign, Florida Prenuptial Agreement Attorney, How Much Does a Prenup Cost in Florida?, Florida Prenup Template: What a DIY Agreement Misses, What Makes a Prenup Invalid in Florida? 3 Grounds, Does a Prenup Need to Be Notarized in Florida? No, How Long Before the Wedding to Sign a Prenup in Florida, How a Prenup Works in Florida.

What I Have Seen With Prenup Representation

In 14 years of law practice, I have seen prenuptial agreements signed with two lawyers, with one, and with none. I also litigate these agreements after they fail, which enhances the practice of drafting them.

I have a few take-home points.

The first is the $750 review fee. The spouse asked to sign needs someone measuring the agreement against Florida’s default rules. Without a prenup, a surviving spouse can claim 30 percent of the elective estate, up to $20,000 in exempt property and up to $18,000 in family allowance. A review shows what those numbers mean for the client’s situation.

The second is the paper trail. A 1962 Florida case involved a 71-year-old widower whose lawyer explained the homestead waiver to the housekeeper he was marrying, twice urged her to get her own lawyer, and had her sign an itemized $248,470 asset statement before two witnesses. She later challenged the waiver. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal enforced it. “In the present case the evidence as to full and fair disclosure is overwhelming.” Documentation is what makes an agreement survive.

Avoid signing an agreement the night before the wedding, without reading it, or without understanding what Florida law would have given you without it.

One honest limit is that a lawyer for the signing spouse cannot fix a disclosure problem created by the other side, and having counsel is not proof the agreement holds if the disclosure was incomplete.

Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., admitted in Florida since 2012. General information rather than advice on your situation.

Updated on November 12, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502.

General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.