Yes. A Texas prenuptial agreement is enforceable when it is in writing and signed by both of you (Texas Family Code §4.002). Whoever later wants out must prove one of only two defenses: an involuntary signature, or an unconscionable deal signed without fair disclosure, a written waiver, or real knowledge of the other person’s finances (§4.006).
Texas calls it a premarital agreement
The Family Code says premarital agreement, not prenup. Both mean the same thing: a contract two people sign before the wedding about money and property, during the marriage and after it.
Without one, Texas community property rules decide who owns what. A prenup lets you write that rule yourselves, within limits the statute sets. The firm’s page on prenups and marital agreements in Texas also covers agreements signed after the wedding.
The formalities are short
Texas Family Code §4.002 asks for two things. The agreement must be in writing, and both of you must sign it. That’s the whole list.
It is enforceable without consideration, the contract-law word for something of value given in exchange, so neither of you has to give anything extra to make it bind (§4.002). A spoken promise before the wedding, however sincere, is not a premarital agreement.
What a Texas prenuptial agreement can cover
Texas Family Code §4.003(a) gives a longer list than most people expect. You can agree on:
- Who owns which property, whenever and wherever acquired, including what you bring in and what you earn later
- Who manages and controls property: buying, selling, leasing, mortgaging or spending it
- What happens to property on separation, divorce or death
- Modifying or eliminating spousal support, the payments people call alimony
- Wills, trusts or other documents needed to carry the agreement out
- Who receives the death benefit from a life insurance policy
- Which state’s law governs how the agreement is read
The list ends with a catch-all: any other matter that does not violate public policy or a criminal statute (§4.003(a)). That clause is wide but not unlimited, and it is the part most worth having a lawyer read.
What it cannot touch
One line in the statute is absolute. A premarital agreement may not adversely affect a child’s right to support (§4.003(b)). You cannot agree to skip child support, set it below what a court would order, or trade it for something else. Child support belongs to the child, and a clause that bargains with it doesn’t bind the court.
The only two ways to defeat one
Under §4.006(a), the person who wants out of the agreement carries the burden and has to prove one of two things.
The first is that they did not sign voluntarily. The arguments here are about pressure, and about how close to the wedding the signature came.
The second is harder. The agreement must have been unconscionable when signed, meaning grossly one-sided, and all three of the following must also be true: the challenger was not given a fair and reasonable disclosure of the other person’s property and debts, did not expressly waive that disclosure in writing, and did not have and could not reasonably have had adequate knowledge of the other person’s finances (§4.006(a)(2)).
Notice the word “and”. A lopsided deal survives the unconscionability defense if the disclosure was fair, and it survives that defense if the challenger signed a written waiver or already knew what the other person owned and owed. None of that helps if the signature was not voluntary. Disclosure is the hinge of the second defense.
The judge decides unconscionability
Unconscionability is decided by the court as a matter of law (§4.006(b)), a lawyer’s phrase for a question the judge answers rather than a jury. The same section makes these the exclusive defenses, common law included (§4.006(c)). There’s no third route. Changed circumstances are not on the list, and neither is regret. The statute looks at the day of signing, not the day of divorce.
Making one that holds up
Each of you hires your own lawyer. One lawyer does not advise both sides of a contract, and separate advice makes it much harder to argue later that a signature was not voluntary or informed.
Exchange full written disclosure, attached to the agreement as a schedule. That single step takes away the second defense almost by itself.
The formalities set no deadline, but a signature collected the week of the ceremony hands the other side an involuntariness argument for free. Sign months out, not days.
Keep the terms defensible. Full disclosure protects a one-sided agreement on paper, but a deal that leaves one spouse with nothing still invites a fight over how fair the disclosure was and how free the signature was.
Where to start
Start with the disclosure, not the drafting. Each of you writes down every asset, every debt and your income, and gathers the statements that prove the numbers. That list is the first thing tested if the agreement is challenged. Once both lists exist, hand them to your lawyer and the drafting can begin.
