Palm Beach County Divorce And Family Law Blog

Effective October 1, 2007, Florida adopted a version of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPAA). Florida Statute § 61.079 is a prospective statute and only applies to those prenuptial agreements drafted after October 1, 2007. Florida's version of the UPAA deals only with premarital agreements. It does not have any effect upon Marital Settlement Agreements and Post Marital Agreements. In addition, to the extent that prior Florida case law is not inconsistent with the Act, prior case law still is valid and will continue to affect interpretation of prenuptial agreements drafted before and after October 1, 2007.

However, the primary change is that the UPAA renders it more difficult for a challenging spouse to overturn a properly drafted premarital contract. Consequently, the UPAA does not negate or take away the necessity of hiring an experienced family law attorney when drafting a prenuptial agreement. It is still necessary to have an attorney who knows the proper language necessary in drafting a valid and defendable premarital agreement and who has knowledge of the twists and turns of case law dealing with the interpretation of premarital contracts and the contents of the UPAA, Fla. Stat. § 61.079. As a result, both parties to a premarital agreement continue to need to have experienced and knowledgeable attorneys to represent them in this process.