California Prenuptial Agreement Attorney
California is a community-property state. Without a valid prenuptial agreement, almost everything earned during the marriage by either spouse becomes community property, regardless of which spouse earned it.
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Without a valid prenuptial agreement, almost everything earned during the marriage by either spouse becomes community property regardless of which spouse earned it, and almost everything purchased with that income belongs equally to both spouses on dissolution. A prenuptial agreement overrides those defaults and lets the couple keep what each spouse came into the marriage with, and what each spouse builds on the separate-property side, separate.
DELINA.ESQ drafts prenuptial agreements for California-resident couples whose financial circumstances justify a substantive agreement. Most engagements involve one or both spouses holding business interests, equity, intellectual property, family wealth, or expected inheritance that would otherwise become community property within the first few years of the marriage. For the broader national practice, see Prenuptial Agreement Attorney.
Who the firm drafts California prenups for.
Founders & Business Owners
A California-resident founder or business owner whose company will appreciate during the marriage and who wants the appreciation kept separate.
Creators & Content Producers
A California-based creator whose intellectual property and brand will generate income post-marriage. The right of publicity (recognized for seventy years post-mortem) and the brand built during the marriage are otherwise subject to community-property characterization where community labor produces them.
Multi-State High Earners
A California-resident high earner with a multi-state or international tax situation where commingling income would create unintended consequences both for the marriage and for the tax position.
Family Wealth & Remarriage
A spouse entering with family wealth, expected inheritance, or interests in a family-held entity that should stay separate, and a spouse re-marrying after divorce, where the prior estate plan, support obligations, and property division interact with the new marital framework.
What the engagement covers.
Each engagement covers the agreement itself, the asset and income disclosures with supporting documentation, the supporting financial statements, the spousal acknowledgment of independent counsel, the certificate of independent legal advice where applicable, the post-execution storage protocol, the modification and revocation provisions, the choice-of-law and forum-selection clauses, and the contingency provisions covering events such as the birth or adoption of children, the death or disability of a spouse, and relocation to a non-community-property state.
For couples with business interests, the agreement addresses the explicit characterization of business appreciation, the treatment of business income drawn during the marriage, the spousal-consent provisions for membership interests in married members’ LLCs, and the buy-sell triggering events on death or divorce. For creators with IP or right-of-publicity interests, it addresses the IP characterization, the post-mortem right of publicity, and the licensing framework that applies if the marriage ends.
The firm represents one spouse in each engagement and coordinates with separate independent counsel for the other spouse, which California’s enforceability framework strongly favors. The firm does not represent both spouses. Detail at Fees.
What most people want to know.
What is the seven-day rule?
California’s premarital-agreement framework imposes a substantive timing rule. The unrepresented party must have at least seven calendar days between the date the final agreement is presented and the date of signing. An agreement signed within that window is presumed unenforceable as to spousal support waivers and faces heightened challenge on the broader voluntariness analysis. The firm calendars the engagement backwards from the wedding date and recommends starting eight to twelve weeks out, which produces the procedural record that supports enforcement.
How does California characterize a business that appreciates during marriage?
California’s community-property regime characterizes income earned during marriage as community property unless it is from separate-property assets and retains separate character through tracing. For a founder whose company appreciates during the marriage, the appreciation attributable to community labor is reallocated under the controlling framework, which treats the business return as compensation for services and allocates a portion to the community, using either the reasonable-compensation or the reasonable-return-on-capital analysis. The prenup opts out of that framework with explicit characterization, and the opt-out, properly drafted, controls in California courts.
What cannot be included in a California prenup?
Provisions affecting child support and child custody are subject to additional scrutiny and may not be enforceable as written. The agreement must be entered voluntarily, without duress or undue influence, and the substantive terms must not be unconscionable at the time of signing or, with respect to spousal support, at the time of enforcement. If the prenup waives spousal support, the waiving spouse must be represented by separate counsel.
This page is general guidance, not legal advice on any specific matter. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney-client relationships are formed only on a signed engagement agreement.
Send the wedding date first.
Then a high-level description of each spouse’s separate assets, business interests, intellectual property, and expected family wealth, and the issues the agreement is intended to address. The firm responds within one business day with a preliminary read on the timeline.
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