What Is a Sunset Clause in a Prenup?
A sunset clause ends the agreement, or named parts of it, on a date or after a stated number of years of marriage. A couple might write that the prenup terminates on their twentieth anniversary, or that the alimony waiver falls away after fifteen years while the property definitions remain.
Florida’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act permits couples to contract about the disposition of property on separation, dissolution or death “or the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event.” A clause tied to a date or an anniversary falls within that language. The act also permits “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.”
The honest limit is this. No Florida appellate court in the firm’s corpus of about 120 prenup decisions has ruled on a sunset clause. The firm drafts them from the statute’s text and from cases about other event-based terms, not from a court decision that says how a sunset will be read. Couples who want one are writing on a blank page, and the language matters more than usual because no judge has narrowed or expanded it yet.
A prenuptial agreement drafted for one spouse 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. A free consultation walks through whether a sunset fits the marriage.
Sunset Clause, Escalator Clause and Phase-In Clause
A sunset clause is not the only way to build time into an agreement. Three terms do different things.
| Clause | What It Does | After How Long | What It Leaves Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunset clause | Ends the agreement or named articles | A date or anniversary the couple chooses | Whatever articles the clause carves out |
| Escalator clause | Increases a benefit by steps | Each year or period of marriage | The agreement, with the changed term |
| Phase-in clause | Gradually adds a right or share | Each year or period of marriage | The agreement, with the new share |
An escalator clause might say that one spouse’s share of the other’s business growth rises by a stated percentage for each year of marriage. A phase-in clause might give one spouse a larger stake in the marital home after a certain number of years. Both leave the agreement in place with adjusted terms.
A sunset clause removes something entirely. If it removes the whole agreement, Florida’s equitable distribution and alimony statutes take over. If it removes only one article, the rest of the agreement still governs.
Why Couples Ask for a Sunset Clause
The question usually comes from a sense of fairness. A couple in their late twenties, signing before jobs and children, may feel that governing a marriage of 25 years by a contract written at 28 is wrong. One partner may earn far more today, and the other may plan to stay home with children for a decade. People write online about it plainly. One asks whether a prenup that locks the lower earner out of growth is fair if the marriage lasts. Another asks what happens to a stay-at-home parent who gave up a career.
A sunset clause is one answer to that feeling. The clause tells both spouses that the agreement has a shelf life, and that after a certain point the marriage itself counts more than the contract.
The feeling is real, but a sunset clause is not the only way to address it. A different answer is a clause that shares growth over time while leaving the structure intact. Another is a postnup signed later when circumstances have changed. Couples should understand what a sunset does before choosing one, because the question is not whether their concern is valid. The concern is valid. The question is whether ending the agreement is the right tool for it.
A free consultation walks through whether a sunset clause fits your marriage or whether a shared-growth clause serves you better.
A free consultation covers your facts, the fee and the timeline.
Book a free consultationWhat Happens on the Divorce Side When a Sunset Fires
When a sunset clause takes effect, the agreement’s definitions fall away for everything the clause released. Florida’s equitable distribution statute then governs those assets and debts. The statute sets aside each spouse’s nonmarital property and starts from the premise that the marital assets should be divided equally, departing from equal only on listed factors.
A prenup usually defines what stays separate and what becomes marital differently from the statute. A prenup may say that all income during the marriage is separate, or that a spouse’s business interest and all its growth stays nonmarital. After a sunset, those definitions no longer apply. Income earned during the marriage becomes marital. Growth in a business operated during the marriage is subject to division.
The same is true for alimony. If the prenup waived durational and rehabilitative alimony and the sunset fires, the waiver is gone. The court applies Florida’s alimony statute, which permits durational alimony of up to 75 percent of the length of a long-term marriage, capped at 35 percent of the difference between the spouses’ net incomes or the obligee’s reasonable need.
Agreements without a sunset clause do not change with time. In one Florida case a 1986 agreement governed after 22 years of marriage. The broad release reached everything acquired in the husband’s name during those years. The Florida Supreme Court in 2015 held that the language covered growth from marital labor or funds.
What Happens on the Death Side, and the Carve-Out
A prenup that waives rights at death usually waives the elective share (30 percent of the elective estate), the homestead descent and devise rules, exempt property (up to $20,000 of furnishings plus two vehicles) and the family allowance (up to $18,000). If a sunset clause ends the whole agreement, those waivers end with it.
For a couple in a second marriage with children from earlier relationships, the death-side waiver is often the reason the agreement exists. The spouse agrees to leave the children’s inheritance alone, and in return each spouse may leave property to their own children. A sunset that removes that waiver reopens the estate to a 30 percent claim.
A Florida appellate court in 2011 held that an “all rights” waiver in a 2007 postnup renounced the wife’s gifts under the husband’s 2002 will, even though the couple never separated. The language reached back in time. A sunset can reach forward the same way and undo the planning the agreement was written to protect.
The firm’s drafting choice when a couple wants a sunset is a divorce-side sunset with the death-side articles kept permanent. The clause names the articles it ends and says expressly that the waiver of surviving-spouse rights remains in effect for the life of the marriage. The spouses get the flexibility they want on property division and alimony, and the estate plan stays intact.
The Firm’s Usual Alternative, a Shared-Growth Clause
A sunset clause is not the only answer to the fairness concern. The firm’s 2026 prenup form contains an optional shared-growth clause instead. The clause says that growth in premarital property and inherited property during the marriage is shared equally at a divorce. Starting values are documented within 60 days after the wedding, so the calculation has real numbers.
The shared-growth clause addresses the worry that one spouse’s sacrifice or work during the marriage should count. If the lower-earning spouse stayed home with children while the other’s business tripled in value, the growth from that period is divisible. The original separate property stays separate.
The clause keeps the agreement’s structure in place. The definitions of separate and marital property still apply to everything else. The alimony terms still govern. The death-side waivers remain. A couple who signs with a shared-growth clause instead of a sunset does not wonder which articles survive and which fall away.
The trade-off is that the clause requires documentation. Both spouses must cooperate on listing starting values within 60 days after the wedding. If they do not, the clause has nothing to measure against. The firm walks through the documentation step at the consultation and makes clear that the clause works only if both sides follow through.
Can a Prenup Have an Alimony Schedule That Changes Over Time?
A prenup can tie alimony to years of marriage instead of ending the whole agreement. Florida law lets spouses contract about “the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event,” and a tenth anniversary is an event. The clause might say the waiver of alimony ends after ten years, or it might set a schedule where each year of marriage adds to the months of support the waiving spouse could receive.
Florida’s current alimony law sets its own time limits. Durational alimony, the most common form after a divorce, cannot exceed 50 percent of a short-term marriage, 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage, or 75 percent of a long-term marriage. The amount is capped at 35 percent of the difference between the spouses’ net incomes, or the obligee’s reasonable need, whichever is less. Permanent alimony was eliminated for petitions filed on or after July 1, 2023.
A prenup alimony schedule cannot touch two things. Child support stays with the court, and a prenup term that adversely affects it is void. Temporary support and temporary attorney’s fees while a divorce is pending cannot be waived under current Florida law. An agreement that tries to waive them is unenforceable on that point, though a later credit can be part of the settlement.
How Should a Sunset Clause Be Written?
The words in the clause decide what a court will enforce. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal in Doig in 2001 read one prenup’s language about property increasing “during the marriage” as covering only passive appreciation, leaving the husband’s active improvements divisible. The court stated, “We construe this provision of the agreement to address passive appreciation.”
The lesson is to be specific. The clause should name the exact event, whether that is a calendar date, a numbered anniversary, or the birth of a child. The clause should list by number the articles that end and the articles that survive. The clause should say what happens to property acquired before the event fires. If the clause ends the alimony waiver, it should say whether the surviving spouse’s death-side rights remain in place.
A choice of law provision matters too. Florida courts enforce the law the couple chose unless applying it would violate a strong Florida public policy, and the spouse resisting that choice carries the burden. One appellate court held that “Florida’s public policy does not protect the spouse who signs an antenuptial contract freely and voluntarily, has some understanding of his or her rights, and who has or reasonably should have had, a general and approximate knowledge of the proponent’s property.”
Does a Prenup Need a Sunset Clause to Be Fair?
Fairness is judged at the time the couple signs, not years later at a divorce. The Florida Supreme Court wrote in Del Vecchio that “[t]he element of fairness should, of course, be measured as of the time of the execution of the agreement.” A bargain that looks unbalanced after twenty years of marriage is not unenforceable for that reason if it was reasonable when the couple signed.
The same court said in Casto, “If an agreement that is unreasonable is freely entered into, it is enforceable.” An agreement does not fail just because it turned out worse than expected for one spouse. What matters is whether that spouse understood it, had a chance to ask questions, and signed voluntarily.
A sunset clause is not a legal requirement. A couple adds one because they want their deal to change over time, not because a court will void the agreement without one. The question at the consultation is what the couple’s own sense of fairness calls for, and whether a sunset or a shared-growth clause serves that sense better.
Should a Second-Marriage Prenup Have a Sunset Clause?
A second marriage with children from the first often needs the opposite of a sunset. The reason the agreement exists is to protect the house, the business, or the retirement account for children who are not the new spouse’s children. A sunset that ends the whole agreement hands those assets back into the elective share, which is 30 percent of the elective estate.
The Florida First District Court of Appeal enforced a five-paragraph prenup in Taylor in 2009. The agreement said each estate would “forever remain” separate and “forever free of claim by the other.” The court held that language waives every surviving-spouse right even though the agreement never mentions death by name.
The firm’s drafting in a second-marriage case usually keeps the death-side waiver permanent. If the couple wants some change over time, the sunset touches only the divorce-side articles, and even then only the ones that are safe to release. A sunset that undoes the inheritance plan defeats the reason the couple hired lawyers in the first place.
Can You Amend or End a Prenup Later Instead of Using a Sunset?
Florida law lets a married couple change or end their prenup at any time by a written agreement signed by both. The statute says that after marriage, a premarital agreement “may be amended, revoked, or abandoned only by a written agreement signed by the parties.” No consideration beyond the signing is needed.
If the change touches the death-side rights (the elective share, homestead, exempt property, the family allowance), the same formalities apply as the original waiver. Each spouse signing the waiver does so in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The firm adds a notary so the document can be recorded if needed and the signature is never in dispute.
A later trust signed by one spouse alone cannot loosen what the prenup said. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held in 2019 that a spouse’s own trust did not undo the prenup’s elective-share waiver, because only a writing signed by both can change the agreement after marriage.
The choice between a built-in sunset and a later amendment comes down to certainty. A sunset fires automatically. An amendment requires both lawyers, both spouses, and a new signing.
What Does the Firm Do When a Client Asks for a Sunset Clause?
The sunset comes up at the consultation. The lawyer asks why the couple wants the agreement to change, what event would trigger the change, and which articles should survive. For many couples the answer is a shared-growth clause that lets fairness build over time while keeping the separate property separate.
If a sunset fits the situation, the firm drafts it only after both spouses’ lawyers agree on the event and the carve-outs. The clause names the anniversary or the date, lists the articles that end, and says what happens to property acquired before the clause fires. Starting values are documented within 60 days after the wedding so the numbers are clear if the clause ever matters.
When the agreement changes, whether by a sunset that fires or by a later amendment, the firm redoes the wills and beneficiary designations so everything says the same thing. A will that still gives away property the agreement released creates a conflict the estate will have to sort out.
A prenuptial agreement drafted for one spouse is a flat fee from $2,450. The other spouse chooses their own lawyer; the firm gives a list of names, never one name. The consultation is free and by phone, Zoom, or WhatsApp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a prenup have an expiration date in Florida?
Florida’s premarital act allows terms tied to the occurrence of any event, which includes a date or an anniversary. A clause that ends the agreement on the tenth wedding anniversary is a term about an event the statute permits. No Florida appellate court in the firm’s corpus has ruled on a sunset clause, so the answer rests on the statute’s broad language and careful drafting, not on a decided case.
What happens when a prenup sunsets?
When the clause fires, the released articles fall away and Florida’s default rules take over. On the divorce side, equitable distribution governs property and durational alimony governs support. On the death side, the elective share, homestead descent, exempt property and family allowance return unless the clause carved the death-side waiver out. The parties stand as if no agreement ever covered those terms.
Is a sunset clause enforceable in Florida?
The statute permits parties to contract about the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any event. No Florida appellate decision in the firm’s corpus has construed a sunset clause, so there is no ruling to cite. Enforceability depends on the clause’s words, the disclosure, the voluntariness of signing, and whether the clause violates public policy. The firm drafts the clause with care because there is no Florida precedent to rely on.
How many years is a typical sunset clause?
The number of years is the couple’s choice, not a legal requirement. Some couples pick a numbered anniversary and others a family event such as the youngest child reaching adulthood. The firm asks at the consultation what event feels right and drafts the clause around it. No Florida court has set a minimum or maximum.
Does a sunset clause affect alimony?
A sunset that ends the alimony waiver returns the spouse to Florida’s durational alimony rules, which cap an award at 50 percent of a short marriage, 60 percent of a moderate marriage, or 75 percent of a long marriage. The clause can also be written as an escalator, adding years of alimony for each additional year of marriage. Child support and temporary support while a divorce is pending cannot be waived.
Does a sunset clause affect the house?
A sunset that releases a house from separate property turns it into marital property subject to equitable distribution. If the house is also homestead, a sunset that ends the death-side waiver returns the surviving spouse’s life estate or one-half election. The firm usually keeps the homestead articles permanent and sunsets only the divorce-side terms.
Can a sunset clause apply only to some parts of the prenup?
A sunset can end all articles, some articles, or none. The firm drafts the clause to name exactly which articles end and which survive. A common pattern is to sunset the divorce-side separate-property definition while keeping the death-side waiver of the elective share, homestead, exempt property and family allowance permanent.
What is the difference between a sunset clause and an escalator clause?
A sunset clause ends or releases specified articles on a stated date. An escalator clause changes a term by steps, for example adding a share of appreciation for each year of marriage or extending the months of alimony the waiving spouse could receive as the marriage continues. Both are event-based terms Florida’s act permits. A sunset is a cliff; an escalator is a slope.
Do I need a sunset clause?
Reasonableness is judged as of the signing, not years later at a divorce, so a sunset is not needed to make an agreement enforceable. The Florida Supreme Court held that an agreement freely entered into is enforceable even if it is one-sided. A sunset is for the couple’s own sense of fairness, not for legal validity.
Can we add a sunset clause after the wedding?
After marriage, a premarital agreement may be amended by a written agreement signed by both parties. For death-side terms, Florida law requires two subscribing witnesses. The firm adds a notary so the amendment can be recorded with a deed. If the couple’s circumstances change and they want a sunset, they sign an amendment with the same formalities.
What is a prenup escalator clause?
An escalator clause changes a term by increments tied to time or events. One version adds a share of growth for each year of marriage. Another extends the months of alimony for each additional year of marriage. The clause lets the agreement grow more generous without ending entirely, which some couples prefer to the all-or-nothing shape of a sunset.
Does a sunset clause cancel the whole prenup?
A sunset clause can be written to cancel the entire agreement, or only named articles. Without a carve-out, ending the agreement ends the waiver of the elective share, homestead, exempt property and family allowance. The firm drafts the clause to state exactly what ends and what survives so neither spouse is surprised.
Common Situations
A couple in their thirties asked for a clause that would end the agreement after fifteen years. At the consultation they learned that the death-side waiver would also end, meaning the elective share and homestead rights would return. The couple chose a shared-growth clause instead, which splits appreciation during the marriage while keeping separate property separate. The prenup stayed in force without a cliff, and their estate plans matched the agreement from the start.
A woman in her fifties was marrying a man with three adult children from his first marriage. The woman wanted the alimony waiver to fade over time, but the man needed the death-side waiver permanent so his estate plan could reach his children. The firm drafted a sunset on the alimony article alone and kept the waiver of the elective share, homestead and exempt property in place for life. Both lawyers agreed, and the agreement matched what each spouse actually cared about.
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).
- Elective share: Fla. Stat. §732.201, §732.2065 (30 percent of the elective estate) and §732.2135 (2026) (the election is filed within 6 months after service of the notice of administration and within 2 years after death; an extension must be requested before the time expires); §733.212(8) (a waiver of service of the notice of administration counts as service on the date the waiver is filed).
- Homestead: Fla. Const. art. X, §4(c); Fla. Stat. §732.401 and §732.4015 (2026) (descent of homestead and the devise restriction when a spouse or minor child survives); §732.7025 (the deed waiver).
- Divorce side: Fla. Stat. §61.075 (2026) (equitable distribution; marital and nonmarital assets, enhancement of nonmarital assets by marital labor or funds) and §61.08 (alimony).
- Cases, each read in full from the opinion files under
reference/caselaw/: Casto v. Casto, 508 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1987); Doig v. Doig, 787 So. 2d 100 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001); McNamara v. McNamara, 40 So. 3d 78 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010); Taylor v. Taylor, 1 So. 3d 348 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009); Steffens v. Evans, 70 So. 3d 758 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011). - 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
How Long Does a Prenup Last? Florida Expiration Rules, Florida Prenuptial Agreement Attorney, What Does a Prenup Cover in Florida?, Can a Prenup Waive Alimony in Florida? Yes, With Limits, Second Marriage Prenup in Florida: Protect Your Children, Does a Prenup Apply at Death in Florida? Yes, Does a Prenup Replace a Will in Florida? No, What a Florida Prenup Looks Like.
What I Have Seen With Prenup Sunset Clauses
In 14 years of law practice, I have drafted sunset clauses for couples who wanted their agreement to change after a certain number of years, and I have seen the questions that come up when the clause is not specific enough. 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 that no Florida appellate court has ruled on a sunset clause. The statute permits terms tied to “the occurrence or nonoccurrence of any other event,” and a tenth anniversary is an event. But the drafting rests on that language and on cases about other event-based terms, not on a decision that says how a sunset will be read. The clause has to be written carefully because there is no precedent to fill in the gaps.
The second is the death-side carve-out. A couple in a second marriage often signs a prenup so each spouse can leave property to children from the first marriage. A sunset that ends the whole agreement ends the waiver of the 30 percent elective share. I saw a couple learn this at a consultation and choose a shared-growth clause instead, which lets fairness build over time without undoing the estate plan.
Avoid drafting a sunset clause without naming exactly which articles end and which survive. One Florida court read a phrase about property increasing “during the marriage” as passive appreciation only, leaving active improvements divisible. The words matter.
One honest limit is that a sunset clause in Florida is written on a blank page, and the couple cannot know how a court will interpret it until one rules.
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.
More Guides on Florida Prenuptial Agreements
- Florida Postnuptial Agreement Attorney, Flat Fee From $2,950
- Florida Postmarital Agreement: How Courts Judge It
- How a Prenup Works in Florida at Divorce and Death
- Florida Prenup Pros and Cons: What the Agreement Changes
- Florida Prenup Lawyer for Each Spouse or One for Both
Try the Which Estate Plan Do I Need? (quiz).
