GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
A prenuptial agreement decides in advance what happens to specific property if a marriage ends. In Connecticut that matters more than in most states, because a Connecticut divorce court can reach any asset either spouse owns — including what you brought to the marriage, what you inherit, and what is given to you alone.
Without an agreement, nothing is categorically off the table.
Connecticut’s Premarital Agreement Act, C.G.S. §§46b-36a to 46b-36j, governs agreements signed on or after October 1, 1995. Agreements signed before that date are governed by the prior common-law framework that §46b-36j preserves. Under §46b-36c, the agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties, and it takes effect on marriage. No consideration beyond the marriage is required.
Section 46b-36g frames enforceability as a set of defences. An agreement is not enforceable if the person resisting it proves any one of the following:
An agreement produced days before a ceremony, with guests arriving and deposits paid, invites the voluntariness argument. Start months out.
Leaving an asset off the schedule, or understating one, is the most reliable way to lose the agreement you paid for. Full disclosure is in your interest, not against it.
Section 46b-36d governs what an agreement may cover, and under it a child’s right to support cannot be adversely affected by a premarital agreement. Provisions about custody, visitation, or otherwise affecting a child remain subject to the court’s review and modification regardless of what the agreement says.
Clauses attempting to regulate conduct during the marriage — weight, chores, frequency of visits from in-laws — tend to create problems rather than solve them, and can colour how a court views the whole document.
When a marriage ends with an agreement in place, Practice Book §25-2A sets the pleading rules. A party seeking enforcement must specifically demand enforcement and identify the agreement by date. A party seeking to avoid the agreement must specifically plead avoidance and the grounds relied on.
Raising the agreement properly and on time is part of protecting it — or of challenging it.
Under §46b-36f, after marriage, a premarital agreement can be amended or revoked only by a written agreement signed by both spouses.
Connecticut recognizes postnuptial agreements under case law, on a stricter standard than prenups. What Bedrick v. Bedrick requires.
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Connecticut courts can reach a business or an inheritance in a divorce. What actually protects them, and what only helps.
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Connecticut prenup and postnup attorney Daniel M. Morton on what makes an agreement enforceable — and why Connecticut’s property rule makes one worth having.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
