The Wedding Came Too Fast
There was no time to do a prenup right, so you do the same agreement properly now, without the deadline pressure.
Better Late Than RushedMonday - Friday8:30AM - 5PM
OfficesFairfax | Manassas
Prenuptial Agreements · Virginia
Already married?
You did not miss your chance.
Most couples think the wedding was the deadline for putting their finances in writing. It was not. Virginia law lets married spouses sign the same kind of agreement at any point, with the same protections. It is called a postnuptial agreement, and it exists for exactly the way life actually happens.
First call is a conversation, not a commitment. · By Alisa Chunephisal, Esq.
The Short Answer
Yes. Married couples in Virginia can sign a postnuptial agreement under Virginia Code § 20-155. It can cover the same ground as a prenup: property, support, debts, and estate terms. The main differences are timing and effect. A prenup waits for the wedding to take effect. A postnup is signed during the marriage and takes effect when you sign it.
How It Works
The same protection, available after the wedding.
Here is the honest picture: a postnup is not a lesser version of a prenup. It is the same legal tool, opened up to married couples, with one extra caution about how courts look at it.
What a postnuptial agreement is
Virginia Code § 20-155 says married persons may enter into agreements with each other for the purpose of settling the rights and obligations of either or both of them, to the same extent and on the same terms as a premarital agreement. In plain English: everything a prenup can do, a postnup can do too. Define separate and marital property. Protect a business or an inheritance. Set or waive spousal support, within the same limits. Assign debts. Coordinate with your estate plan. The agreement must be in writing and signed by both spouses, and the same enforcement standards apply: voluntary signing and fair financial disclosure under Va. Code § 20-151.
One timing difference matters. A premarital agreement becomes effective upon marriage under Va. Code § 20-148. A marital agreement is signed by people who are already married, so it takes effect when it is executed. There is no waiting period and no ceremony required. You sign it, and it is your agreement.
When couples actually use one
The common reasons are ordinary, not ominous. The wedding got close and there was no time to do a prenup properly, so the couple chose to do it right afterward instead of rushed before. A business was started during the marriage, and both spouses want it walled off before it grows. An inheritance arrived, and the family wants it kept separate while everyone agrees on where it came from. One spouse is taking a career pause to raise children, and the couple wants the financial terms of that decision in writing. And sometimes a couple has been through a rough stretch, worked through it, and wants the money questions answered so they can stop being a source of fear.
The honest caution
Courts can look at postnups with a closer eye than prenups, for a simple reason. Spouses owe each other a duty of fair dealing, and unlike an engaged couple, a married person cannot walk away from the deal without walking away from the marriage. That makes voluntariness and disclosure matter even more. A postnup signed under pressure, or as an ultimatum in the middle of a crisis, is exactly the kind that gets challenged. One signed calmly, with full disclosure and each spouse advised by their own lawyer, stands on the same footing as any other contract between adults. The process is the protection.
What it isAn agreement between married spouses under Va. Code § 20-155, covering the same subjects as a premarital agreement.
When it appliesSigned at any point during the marriage, and effective when signed. No waiting period.
What it can coverProperty, businesses, inheritances, debts, spousal support, and estate terms, on the same terms as a prenup.
What it takesIn writing, signed by both spouses, voluntary, with fair financial disclosure. The closer judicial eye on postnups makes the process matter most.
The Statute, Plainly
Virginia Code § 20-155 lets married persons enter into agreements settling their rights and obligations to the same extent and on the same terms as a premarital agreement. The writing and signature requirement applies, and the enforcement standards of the Virginia Premarital Agreement Act carry over.
Va. Code §§ 20-155, 20-149, 20-150, 20-151 · verified as of June 2026
When a Postnup Makes Sense
Six moments when couples put it in writing after the wedding.
None of these means the marriage is in trouble. Each one means circumstances changed, and the paperwork is catching up.
A New Business
A company started during the marriage is marital by default. A postnup can wall it off before it becomes valuable.
Before It GrowsAn Inheritance Arrived
Keep family money separate while both of you still agree on exactly where it came from and what it is for.
While Memories Are FreshA Career Pause
One spouse steps back to raise children, and the financial terms of that sacrifice go in writing before it happens.
Protects the CaregiverAfter a Rough Patch
A couple that worked through a hard season settles the money questions so they stop being a source of fear.
Peace, In WritingEstate Plan Changes
New children, new assets, or aging parents reshape the estate plan, and the marital agreement keeps pace with it.
Documents That MatchThe Practical Side
What makes a postnup hold, and what sinks it.
Because courts look harder at agreements between spouses, the process carries even more weight here than it does before a wedding.
+ Helps your case
- Full, current financial disclosure from both spouses
- Independent counsel for each spouse
- A calm timeline with real opportunity to negotiate
- Terms that give something to both sides, not just one
- An agreement that matches your wills, trusts, and beneficiary forms
− Hurts your case
- An agreement presented as an ultimatum during a crisis
- Signing within days of a threat to leave the marriage
- Stale or incomplete disclosure of assets and income
- One spouse with a lawyer and the other with nobody
- Terms so one-sided that no advised person would have agreed
Alisa Chunephisal, Esq.
Founding Partner
Attorney Insight
What I tell married couples who think they missed the window.
"The wedding was never the deadline. The deadline is the day you stop agreeing, and nobody knows when that is. Sign while you agree."
Alisa's honest counsel: a postnup signed in peace beats a prenup signed in panic.
Some of the strongest agreements I have drafted were postnups, because the couple had time. No wedding bearing down, no caterer deposits, just two people deciding their finances calmly. The one rule I hold firm on: a postnup is a planning tool, not a weapon. If it is being demanded as the price of staying in the marriage, that pressure will follow the document into any courtroom that ever reads it. Come to it together, disclose everything, get separate counsel, and the agreement will be there for you for decades.
More on Prenuptial Agreements
Related parts of a Virginia prenup.
01
Premarital Assets
Read more → 02Business Interests
Read more → 03Inheritances & Gifts
Read more → 04Debt Protection
Read more → 05Spousal Support Terms
Read more → 06Children From a Prior Marriage
Read more → 07Postnuptial Agreements
You are here 08Full Financial Disclosure
Read more → 09Independent Review
Read more → 10Updating the Agreement
Read more →Questions People Actually Ask
Plain answers about postnuptial agreements.
These are the questions married couples ask us most. If you have a different one, we are happy to answer it directly.
Have a specific question?
Call 571.260.0999 or send us a message.
Can you sign a prenup after you are already married?
Yes, in substance. An agreement signed after the wedding is called a postnuptial or marital agreement, allowed under Va. Code § 20-155. It can settle the same rights and obligations as a premarital agreement, on the same terms, and it takes effect when both spouses sign it.
Is a postnup as enforceable as a prenup in Virginia?
It rests on the same statutory framework: in writing, signed, voluntary, with fair disclosure. The practical difference is scrutiny. Because spouses owe each other fair dealing, courts look closely at how a postnup was reached. One signed calmly with full disclosure and separate counsel stands firm. One extracted as an ultimatum is the kind that gets attacked.
Does wanting a postnup mean the marriage is in trouble?
Usually the opposite. The most common reasons are practical: a wedding that came too fast for a proper prenup, a new business, an inheritance, or a planned career pause to raise children. Couples sign postnups because circumstances changed, not because the marriage did. Putting the money questions to rest tends to remove a source of stress, not create one.
What can a postnup not do?
The same limits that apply to prenups. It cannot decide child custody or visitation, and it cannot adversely affect a child's right to support. Terms that are illegal or against public policy will not be enforced. And like a prenup, it binds the two of you, not outside creditors. Everything else on the financial side of the marriage is fair ground.
When You Are Ready
The wedding was not the deadline. This week could be the start.
Tell us what changed and what you want settled. We will put it in writing the right way, while the two of you still agree on everything that matters. Three offices across Northern Virginia, one phone number.