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Prenuptial Agreements · Virginia
Decide spousal support now,
not in the worst year of your life.
Without an agreement, spousal support in a Virginia divorce is decided by a judge weighing thirteen statutory factors, after months of litigation. A prenup lets the two of you answer the question in advance, calmly, while you are still on the same side.
First call is a conversation, not a commitment. · By Alisa Chunephisal, Esq.
The Short Answer
Yes. A Virginia prenup can set spousal support in advance. Virginia Code § 20-150(4) expressly allows an agreement to modify or eliminate spousal support. You can waive it entirely, set a fixed amount, or tie it to the length of the marriage. One limit to know: a waiver that would push a spouse onto public assistance can be overridden to the extent needed to prevent that.
How It Works
What the default looks like, and what you can write instead.
Here is the honest picture: spousal support is the least predictable money question in a Virginia divorce. That unpredictability is exactly what a prenup removes.
The default: thirteen factors and a judge's discretion
Without an agreement, final spousal support in Virginia is decided under Va. Code § 20-107.1. There is no formula. The court weighs thirteen factors, from the length of the marriage and the standard of living to each person's earning capacity and the decisions made during the marriage. The result is discretionary, fact heavy, and genuinely hard to predict, which is why support is so often the issue that drags a divorce into trial. We cover that whole framework on our spousal support pages. The point here is simpler: everything on that page is what happens when you have no agreement.
What a prenup can say instead
Virginia Code § 20-150(4) puts spousal support squarely inside what a prenup can cover. The statute allows the modification or elimination of spousal support by agreement. In practice, that gives a couple a menu. You can waive support entirely, in both directions. You can set a fixed amount or a formula, so the number is known rather than litigated. You can tie duration to the length of the marriage, with support growing the longer you stay together. You can add a sunset clause, where the support terms or the whole agreement expire after a set number of years. Each version trades the thirteen factor lottery for a number the two of you chose.
The limits, stated honestly
Two limits matter. First, the public assistance safeguard. Under Va. Code § 20-151(B), if a support waiver or limitation would make a spouse eligible for public assistance at the time of separation or divorce, a court can require the other spouse to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility. A waiver cannot be used to push someone onto the safety net. Second, the usual enforceability rules apply with extra force here, because support waivers get challenged more than any other prenup term. The agreement must be in writing and signed under Va. Code § 20-149, voluntary, and supported by fair financial disclosure under Va. Code § 20-151. A support waiver signed days before the wedding, by a spouse who never saw the other's income and never spoke to a lawyer, is the classic profile of a clause that gets attacked. Done early, with disclosure and independent counsel, the same clause is very hard to disturb.
The default ruleWithout an agreement, spousal support is decided under the thirteen factors of Va. Code § 20-107.1, at the court's discretion.
What you can writeA full waiver, a fixed amount or formula, duration tied to the length of the marriage, or a sunset clause, under Va. Code § 20-150(4).
The safeguardA waiver that would make a spouse eligible for public assistance can be overridden to the extent needed to prevent that, under Va. Code § 20-151(B).
What it takesIn writing, signed, voluntary, with fair disclosure of income and assets. Support waivers draw the most challenges, so the process matters most here.
The Statute, Plainly
Virginia Code § 20-150(4) allows a premarital agreement to address the modification or elimination of spousal support. Virginia Code § 20-151(B) adds the safeguard: if a support provision would make a spouse eligible for public assistance when the marriage ends, a court may order support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility.
Va. Code §§ 20-149, 20-150(4), 20-151(B), 20-107.1 · verified as of June 2026
What the Agreement Covers
Six ways couples structure support terms.
There is no single right answer. These are the structures we draft most, and each fits a different kind of couple.
A Fixed Amount or Formula
A known number or a simple formula replaces the thirteen factor analysis, so nobody litigates the math.
Certainty Over LitigationDuration Tied to the Marriage
Support that scales with years married, recognizing that a twenty year marriage is not a two year one.
Scales With TimeA Sunset Clause
The support terms, or the whole agreement, expire after a set anniversary. A common middle ground for reluctant partners.
Built In ExpirationCareer Sacrifice Protection
Support that activates if one spouse leaves the workforce to raise children or support the other's career.
Protects the CaregiverCoordination With Property
Support terms balanced against the property terms, so the agreement is fair as a whole, not clause by clause.
The Whole PictureThe Practical Side
What makes support terms hold, and what gets them thrown out.
Support waivers are the most attacked clause in any prenup. The difference between one that holds and one that fails is almost always the process.
+ Helps your case
- Full disclosure of both incomes, assets, and earning capacity
- Independent counsel for the spouse giving up support
- Signing months before the wedding, with time to negotiate
- Terms that account for children and career sacrifice scenarios
- Support terms balanced against fair property terms
− Hurts your case
- A waiver that would leave one spouse needing public assistance
- A large income gap with no lawyer for the lower earner
- Hidden or understated income in the disclosure
- A waiver signed days before the ceremony
- Boilerplate language that ignores how your actual life might change
Alisa Chunephisal, Esq.
Founding Partner
Attorney Insight
What I tell couples about support waivers.
"A support waiver is only as strong as the process behind it. Disclosure, counsel, and time. Skip any one of the three and you have written a future lawsuit, not a prenup."
Alisa's honest counsel: draft for the marriage you might have, not the one you have today.
The couples who get this wrong draft for two healthy incomes and no kids, because that is who they are at the engagement. Then someone steps back from a career to raise children, and the waiver they signed no longer fits the life they built. Think about the version of your marriage where one of you sacrifices earning power, and write terms that are fair to that person. A clause that protects the caregiver is not a loophole. It is the thing that makes the rest of the agreement defensible ten years from now.
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
You are here 06Children From a Prior Marriage
Read more → 07Postnuptial Agreements
Read more → 08Full Financial Disclosure
Read more → 09Independent Review
Read more → 10Updating the Agreement
Read more →Questions People Actually Ask
Plain answers about support terms in prenups.
These are the questions we hear most about setting spousal support in advance. 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 waive spousal support in a Virginia prenup?
Yes. Va. Code § 20-150(4) expressly allows a premarital agreement to modify or eliminate spousal support. A full mutual waiver is one of the most common prenup terms. The main limit is the public assistance safeguard in Va. Code § 20-151(B): if the waiver would make a spouse eligible for public assistance when the marriage ends, a court can order support to the extent necessary to prevent that.
Can a prenup set a specific amount instead of waiving support?
Yes, and many couples prefer it. The agreement can set a fixed monthly amount, a lump sum, or a formula, and it can tie the duration to the length of the marriage. The point is replacing the thirteen factor analysis of Va. Code § 20-107.1 with a number the two of you chose, so neither person litigates their financial future during a divorce.
Are support waivers actually enforced by Virginia courts?
Generally yes, when the agreement was done right. Waivers fail when the process was bad: no disclosure of income, no independent counsel for the spouse giving up support, or a signature extracted days before the wedding. A waiver built on full disclosure, separate lawyers, and months of lead time is very difficult to disturb. The clause is only as strong as the process behind it.
What if one of us leaves work to raise children?
This is the scenario every support clause should be drafted around, because it is where a waiver that seemed fair at the engagement becomes unfair in practice. The agreement can include terms that activate if a spouse steps back from a career for the family, such as support tied to the years out of the workforce. Building that in makes the whole agreement more defensible, not less.
When You Are Ready
Answer the hardest question while it is still easy.
Tell us what feels fair to both of you, and we will turn it into terms a court will respect. With time to spare before the wedding. Three offices across Northern Virginia, one phone number.