What a California prenuptial agreement is for
California is a community property state. Unless the couple agree otherwise, everything either spouse earns during the marriage, and everything bought with those earnings, belongs to both of them equally, and a business or house owned before the wedding can pick up a community interest as the marriage goes on. A premarital agreement lets two people decide in advance which property will stay separate, how earnings will be treated, what happens to a business and a home, whether spousal support will be limited, and what each will receive if the other dies.
California also has some of the strictest rules in the country about how a prenup must be signed. Since 2002, and again since 2020, Family Code section 1615 has said an agreement is presumed involuntary unless the court finds a list of conditions met, including at least seven days with the final version and either independent counsel or a written waiver and plain-language explanation. This template follows that process, with a timeline record, counsel certificates, a structured explanation, disclosure schedules and an after-the-wedding checklist, alongside the property, support and death provisions.
When to sign one
Couples most often want a prenup when one partner owns a business or a home, expects an inheritance or trust distribution, has much higher income or equity compensation, has significant debt, or has children from a previous relationship. It is just as useful for two professionals who simply want to keep their earnings separate.
Start early. The final agreement must be in each person's hands for at least seven calendar days before signing, any late change can restart that clock, and lawyers need time to review and negotiate. Three to six months before the wedding is comfortable; signing the week of the wedding invites a challenge. Couples who are already married need a postnuptial agreement, which follows different rules.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Parties and recitals
- Parties
- Wedding date
- Children
- Disclosure exchanged
- Effective only on marriage
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Definitions and separate property
- Separate Community and Joint Property
- Sole management
- No Pereira or Van Camp claims
- Contributions to separate property
- Premarital debts
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Earnings and business
- Community earnings or separate earnings
- Business interest and growth
- Salary-only community interest
- Spousal consents
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Home, expenses and retirement
- Residence ownership and separation
- Future home contributions
- Household expenses and joint account
- Retirement accounts
- ERISA waivers after marriage
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Spousal and child support
- Support under law
- Limited support
- Lump sum
- Mutual waiver
- Section 1612(c) counsel requirement
- Child support preserved
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Death
- Waiver of surviving spouse rights
- Provision for the survivor
- Wills and trusts
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Disclosure and voluntariness
- Financial schedules
- Independent counsel or written waiver
- Seven calendar days after final agreement
- Written explanation in proficient language
- No duress
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Disputes and general provisions
- Mediation
- Fees
- Amendment and transmutation rules
- Governing law
- Severability
- Notary acknowledgments
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Schedules A to F
- Disclosure of each party
- Counsel certificates
- Waiver of counsel and written explanation
- Section 1615(c) timeline record
- After-the-wedding checklist
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to complete the agreement
- Exchange financial disclosure first. Each party completes their schedule with values, dates and supporting documents.
- Fill in the recitals. Wedding date, ages, occupations and children.
- Decide how earnings are treated. Community earnings or separate earnings, the biggest single choice.
- Protect any business. Name it and decide what interest, if any, the community gets.
- Settle the home, accounts and retirement. Use the residence, household expense and retirement options.
- Choose the spousal support option. Remember that any limit requires independent counsel for the person giving up support.
- Decide what happens at death. Waivers, any provision for the survivor, and matching wills and trusts.
- Deliver the final agreement and start the clock. Record the date in Schedule E and advise each party to get a lawyer.
- Sign after at least seven days. Collect counsel certificates (or the Schedule D waiver and explanation), have signatures notarized, then work through the after-the-wedding checklist.
Example: a founder and a teacher
Fictional couple Priya Raman, a software founder, and Daniel Cho, a teacher, plan to marry in San Diego on June 20, 2027. Priya owns 60% of a startup valued at $2.4 million and a condo; Daniel has a $40,000 pension balance and student loans.
Earnings: Option A, community earnings. Business: Priya's shares and all growth stay her separate property; the community gets only the salary the company pays her. Spousal support: Option 3, a lump sum of $50,000 plus $25,000 for each full year of marriage after the second, with each party represented by their own lawyer. Timeline: final agreement emailed to both lawyers on April 2, 2027; earliest signing date April 9, 2027; signed April 23, 2027. After the wedding: Daniel signs Priya's 401(k) spousal waiver on July 8, 2027.
If they separate after seven full years, Daniel receives $50,000 plus five further years at $25,000, a total of $175,000 in support, and his half of the community property, including community earnings saved during the marriage.
California rules to know
- Writing and effect (Family Code sections 1611 and 1613). In writing and signed by both; effective on marriage.
- What it can cover (section 1612). Property, support, death, wills and insurance, choice of law; child support cannot be adversely affected.
- Spousal support (section 1612(c)). Any waiver or limit needs independent counsel for the person giving it up and must not be unconscionable when enforced.
- Voluntariness (section 1615(c)). Counsel or a separate written waiver; seven calendar days after the final agreement and advice to seek counsel; a written explanation for an unrepresented party; no duress, fraud or undue influence.
- Disclosure (section 1615(a)(2)). Lack of fair and reasonable disclosure can defeat an agreement that was unconscionable when signed.
- Amendments (sections 1614 and 852). In writing, signed by both; changes in character of property need an express written declaration.
- Death (Probate Code sections 140 to 147). Surviving spouse rights can be waived with fair disclosure or independent counsel.
Why California prenups fail
Most California prenups that fail in court fail on process, not on their terms. The final version arrived five days before the wedding. A last-minute change to the support clause restarted the seven-day period and nobody noticed. The less wealthy spouse used a lawyer found and paid for by the other side, or had no lawyer at all but signed a spousal support waiver anyway. The financial disclosure left out a business valuation or a trust. Or a lifetime support waiver met a twenty-year marriage and three children, and the court found it unconscionable. The timeline record, counsel certificates, support options and disclosure schedules in this template are there to avoid each of those outcomes.
Frequently asked questions
How long before the wedding must a prenup be signed in California?
Family Code section 1615(c) requires at least seven calendar days between the time a party is first given the final agreement and advised to get independent counsel, and the time they sign. There is no fixed deadline before the wedding, but signing weeks rather than days ahead makes it much harder to argue the agreement was signed under pressure.
Can you waive spousal support in a California prenup?
Yes, but the waiver is unenforceable if the person giving up support did not have an independent lawyer when signing, or if enforcing it would be unconscionable at the time of divorce (section 1612(c)). Limited support or a lump sum that grows with the length of the marriage is more likely to be upheld than a flat waiver.
Is a prenup valid in California without a lawyer?
It can be, but only if the unrepresented party was advised to get counsel and waived it in a separate signed writing, had seven days with the final agreement, and received a signed written explanation of its terms and effect in a language they are proficient in. Spousal support terms, however, require independent counsel for the party giving up support.
Can a prenup protect a business in California?
Yes. Without one, growth in a business owned before marriage can be partly community property if either spouse's work contributed to it. A prenup can keep the business and all its growth as the owner's separate property, and limit the community's interest to the salary actually paid.
Can a prenup waive my spouse's rights to my 401(k)?
Not by itself. Federal law gives a spouse survivor rights in many employer retirement plans, and only a spouse can waive them, after the wedding, on the plan's form with a notary or plan witness. A prenup should require both parties to sign those waivers after the marriage, as this one does.
