A prenuptial agreement is the one contract people sign hoping they will never need to read it again, which is exactly why it has to be drafted as if it will be attacked. California prenups are governed by the Premarital Agreement Act, and the classic attack routes are involuntariness and unconscionability, meaning claims that a spouse signed under pressure, without understanding, or on terms no reasonable person would accept. Family Code §1615(c) requires at least seven calendar days between receiving the final agreement and signing it, and courts take that rule seriously. Spodek Law Group P.C. drafts, negotiates, and reviews prenups for Los Angeles couples, and we defend and challenge them in divorces when the marriage does not last.
What a California prenup can and cannot do.
A well-drafted prenup can define what stays separate property, decide how income and assets acquired during the marriage will be characterized, protect a business or an expected inheritance, and address spousal support within the limits California enforces. It cannot decide child custody or child support, because those belong to the court and the child at the time they arise. The document has to be paired with honest financial disclosure, since an agreement built on hidden assets invites exactly the challenge it was meant to prevent. We tell you plainly what your draft can carry and what it cannot.
The seven-day rule, independent counsel, and voluntariness.
Family Code §1615(c) requires at least seven calendar days between the date the final agreement is presented and the date it is signed, and a prenup rushed to signature the week of the wedding is a prenup in danger. Independent counsel matters just as much, because a spouse who had their own lawyer, real time to review, and full disclosure has very little room to claim the agreement was involuntary. We build the record as we draft, documenting who received what and when, so that years later the file itself answers the challenge.
Timing, negotiation, and getting married without a fight.
The best time to start a prenup is months before the wedding, when nobody is negotiating under a deadline and the conversation can stay what it should be, a practical discussion between two people about to build something together. We handle the negotiation respectfully, often working with your future spouse's counsel to reach terms both of you consider fair, because an agreement that feels fair gets honored and defended. Our fully online client portal keeps drafts, disclosures, and signatures organized, and if you are already close to the wedding date, call us anyway and we will tell you honestly what is still achievable.
