Prenuptial Agreements in Maryland

A prenuptial agreement is a contract signed before marriage that decides in advance what happens to property and support if the marriage ends. People tend to assume it is about distrust. In practice it is usually about clarity: a family business, children from an earlier marriage, a large disparity in assets or debts, or an inheritance someone wants to keep separate.

The same document signed after the wedding is a postnuptial agreement, and it raises similar questions.

What a prenuptial agreement can decide

• How property and debt, whether acquired before or during the marriage, will be divided
• Whether alimony will be paid, in what amount and for how long, or waived
• Protection of an inheritance, a family business or a professional practice
• Inheritance rights, including provision for children from a previous relationship
• Management and control of property, retirement accounts and life insurance during the marriage

What it cannot decide

This is the limit people most often get wrong. A Maryland prenuptial agreement cannot determine child support or child custody. Those questions belong to the child, not to the parents’ contract, and a court decides them on the child’s best interests and the support guidelines whatever the agreement says.

See child support and custody and parenting plans.

What makes one enforceable

Maryland courts will enforce a prenuptial agreement, but they look at how it was made. The elements that matter:

• In writing and signed by both parties. Notarization is not required but it helps.
• Entered voluntarily. An agreement produced days before the wedding, with no time to consider it, invites an argument about pressure.
• Full and fair disclosure of assets and debts by both parties. Concealing an asset is the most reliable way to lose the agreement later.
• Fair and reasonable terms. An agreement that leaves one spouse destitute is vulnerable.

A spouse who later challenges the agreement carries the burden, and has to show something like fraud, duress, coercion, mistake, undue influence, incompetence or unconscionability. That is a real burden, which is why a carefully made agreement usually holds.

Independent counsel on both sides

Maryland does not require each party to have their own lawyer, but having one materially strengthens the agreement. One attorney cannot represent both people, and an agreement where only one side had advice is the one most likely to be attacked later. If your fiancé’s attorney drafted it, have your own attorney review it before you sign.

Timing matters as much as content. Start months before the wedding, not weeks.

How it interacts with a later divorce

A valid agreement can settle the property and alimony questions that otherwise consume a divorce, which is much of its value. See property and debt division and alimony. It does not by itself end a marriage; the grounds and the process are the same. See grounds for divorce in Maryland.

A related but different document is the marital settlement agreement, which is negotiated when a marriage is ending rather than beginning.

Official Maryland resources

• Maryland People’s Law Library, prenuptial agreements
• Maryland People’s Law Library, separation agreements

Talk with a Towson family law attorney

Every divorce and custody matter turns on its own facts. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC offers a free consultation so you can get straight answers about your situation before you decide what to do next.

Call (410) 847-9075 or request a consultation online. The office is at 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204.

This page provides general information about Maryland law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and how it applies depends on the facts of your case.