Arizona Prenuptial Agreement Lawyers

Let Our Arizona Prenup Agreement Attorneys Protect Your Marriage and Future

Whether you’re planning a wedding, entering a second marriage, or dealing with changing finances during your current marriage, a prenuptial or postnuptial can provide clarity, promote fairness, and protect your family’s future.

For four decades, Gillespie, Shields, & Taylor has assisted families across Arizona, advising on dozens of prenups and postnups every year.

Our prenuptial agreement attorneys combine deep legal knowledge of Arizona statutes with practical experience to help you plan responsibly while protecting what matters most to you.

Why Many Arizona Couples Consider Prenups

You don’t have to be wealthy to benefit from a prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital agreement in Arizona).

Rather, marrying couples of all incomes and backgrounds choose prenups to protect their interests and avoid potential problems for themselves and their loved ones.

Here are some common reasons Arizona couples consider prenups:

Protecting loved ones

Many couples sign prenups in order to shield their loved ones from potential problems or issues.

For example, one person may have significant debt as they enter a marriage. A prenup can protect their future spouse from taking on this debt.

In other cases, a couple entering a second marriage with children from prior relationships may want a prenup to ensure all of their children’s assets always remain theirs.

Protecting personal assets

When one or both parties want to continue to own their own business, maintain control of an inheritance, or keep their assets separate, a prenuptial agreement can help ensure there isn’t any discord involved with their ownership or management.

Avoiding unfair or undesirable outcomes

Prenuptial agreements can provide individuals with complete control of how property and debts will be divided.

Some may wish to control or limit spousal maintenance in a fair, enforceable way.

In other cases, couples use prenups to plan proactively and avoid court fights, should a divorce occur. 

If you want a thoughtfully-designed prenup that helps protect your interests and loved ones while honoring your spouse, let the prenuptial lawyers at Gillespie, Shields, & Taylor help.

What Arizona Prenups Cover

Even though prenuptial agreements can help you avoid tension and protect your assets, a number of Arizona statutes impose limits on what they can legally do.

Additionally, Arizona adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPAA), which also provides legal direction on prenups.

Our Arizona prenuptial attorneys have outlined what these laws and acts say about what a prenup can and can’t include. 

What a prenup can include under Arizona law:

• Division of property – This includes a wide variety of property and assets that are both currently owned or will be acquired in the future.
• Allocation of debts – A prenup can direct how both separate debts (incurred before marriage) and community debts (incurred during marriage) will be handled in the event of a divorce.
• Spousal support terms – Arizona prenups can legally include spousal support (alimony) waivers. They can also include spousal support amount limits, as long as they are approved by the court.
• Estate and inheritance rights – These agreements can define what separate property belongs to whom in the event of a death or divorce, along with protecting inheritances.
• Business interests – Prenups can protect business interests developed before or during marriage. By defining ownership, management, and profit-sharing arrangements, business interests can be protected from disputes in the event of a divorce or the death of a spouse. 

These are a few ways to show how a prenuptial agreement can be the best choice for couples wanting to avoid issues and protect what matters to them.

However, there are items that can’t be included in an Arizona prenuptial agreement. 

What a prenup can’t include:

• Child custody or parenting time provisions – Arizona Revised Statutes § 25-401 through § 25-417 dictate legal decision making and parenting time arrangements, not prenuptial agreements.
• Child support amounts or rules – Because Arizona Revised Statute § 25‑403 prioritizes the child’s best interest at the time of a divorce and throughout the child’s life, a prenup can’t dictate these matters.
• Complete denial of alimony – While you can include provisions that waive or limit spousal maintenance, Arizona Revised Statute § 25‑202 prevents a prenup from having spousal support terms that are so restrictive that they leave one spouse needing public assistance.

If you want to ensure you get an Arizona prenup that is legally valid and binding, our prenup attorneys are ready to help.

How to Obtain a Valid Arizona Prenup

While a prenuptial agreement can be a solution to a number of problems, it can also affect the most important aspects of your life, both now and into the future.

As a result, you need a prenup that protects your interests, helps you reach your goals, and is legally valid.

Our attorneys follow these steps to ensure your prenuptial agreement  is right for you and complies with Arizona law:

• Initial consultation – We discuss your goals and priorities while also reviewing your assets, debts, and family plans.
• Financial Disclosure – Both parties provide us with detailed financial information: assets, debts, income, and more. This step is absolutely essential, since full financial disclosure is necessary to receive a valid prenuptial agreement.
• Drafting the document – To ensure both parties fully understand the terms of the prenuptial agreement, our attorneys draft it in clear terms that are legally binding. This helps prevent any later claim that a spouse didn’t understand the terms of the agreement.
• Negotiation – As we draft the terms of your prenup, we also take the time to review it and revise it if necessary. This ensures fairness for both parties while helping to avoid potential challenges later on.
• Review and signing – The final prenuptial agreement is signed by you and your future spouse, along with being witnessed and notarized. NOTE: It is best to complete this step a minimum of several weeks before the wedding to avoid any coercion claims that could invalidate the agreement.
• Optional recording – A memorandum may be recorded with the county recorder to provide public notice, if necessary. This step can be especially important for prenuptial agreements involving real estate or business assets. 

Our processes and systems help ensure your prenuptial agreement  is accurate, fair, legally compliant, and as stress-free as possible.

Additionally, our prenuptial attorneys can also help review a prenup as a neutral third-party to help ensure you make the best decisions that are also accepted under Arizona law.

What Happens if a Prenup is Challenged

Even though a prenup met all of the legal requirements in Arizona when it was drafted and signed, it can still be challenged and even become invalid.

One of the most common ways to do this is by claiming that it didn’t meet Arizona’s premarital agreement requirements under Arizona Revised Statute § 25‑202.

This may involve submitting evidence that the agreement was not entered into voluntarily by both parties, that it was excessively unreasonable at the time signed, or that there was no full financial or property disclosure.

Similarly, the court will likely ask similar questions for a postnup: Was there full disclosure at the time of signing the document? Were the terms fair? Was it entered voluntarily? 

Our attorneys are ready to help you challenge a prenuptial agreement  or postnuptial agreement, as well as fight a challenge. We’ll prepare documentation, trace negotiation history, and help you meet the burden of proof if enforcement is needed.

Postnuptial Agreements in Arizona

While a couple who is already married cannot have a prenuptial agreement, they may still want to legally document their choices on important matters.

In these cases, a postnuptial agreement (postnup) can help them. Postnuptial agreements are often used when there’s a significant financial change due to inheritance, business growth, or a job change.

In other cases, one spouse may want to clarify debts, protect an asset, or redefine property arrangements during the marriage. A postnup can help accomplish these and other goals.

But since Arizona law does not have a specific statute that guides postnuptial agreements, it is important to draft it to include aspects that other accepted legal contracts contain.

In other words, a postnup should meet contract standards for it to be recognized and enforced by Arizona courts, which includes:

• The full disclosure of all financial accounts, documents, and other important matters
• Reasonable and fair terms for both parties
• Both parties entering into it willfully and not under coercion

To help ensure that the courts will legally enforce your postnuptial agreement, you will also need to have independent legal representation objectively analyze its validity.

Our experienced attorneys are ready to care for any postnuptial matters, such as drafting, reviewing, or enforcing your postnuptial agreement.

Need Help with Your Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreement?

Not only are Arizona laws confusing, but you may also be struggling with unique personal challenges to getting a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.

The prenuptial agreement attorneys at Gillespie, Shields, & Taylor have been helping families like yours make wise legal decisions since 1985. That means we understand the entire legal process, how to make it work for you, and how to help you achieve the outcome you’re looking for.

Our attorneys also excel at helping you examine your options and maintain control of your situation with empathy and understanding.