Download Texas Postnuptial Agreement Form [PDF]

The Texas postnuptial agreement is a legal document that determines the rights and obligations of each spouse in relation to their individual and marital property.

Each document will use the prenuptial agreement form to provide a list of all the assets and liabilities at the moment of signing the document, and the parties will determine how they will divide the property in case they get divorced. However, the spouses can also use this document to determine how to manage their property during the marriage.

The moment the parties sign this document is the main difference between a postnuptial and prenuptial agreement. With the prenup agreement, the parties sign the document before they get married, while with the postnup agreement, they sign the document during the marriage.

Laws and Legal Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Texas

The laws and legal requirements for a postnuptial agreement in Texas are all outlined in a few provisions of the state law as well as in the decisions of a Texas court. The main reason for this is that Texas hasn’t adopted any uniform law that will separately regulate the legality of postnuptial agreements in Texas.

One of the most important court decisions for the legality of a Texas postnuptial agreement is Daniel v. Daniel.

Here, the court provides that the “[T]exas courts have closely scrutinized property agreements made by spouses during marriage. Because of the confidential relationship between a husband and a wife, courts have imposed the same duties of good faith and fair dealing on spouses as required of partners and other fiduciaries.”

Signing Requirements for a Postnuptial Agreement in Texas

The Texas postnuptial agreement must be made in written form. Moreover, the state law requires both spouses to sign the postnuptial agreement form.

The state law, however, doesn’t require parties to notarize their postnuptial agreement. However, the parties should still consider completing this step since it can provide an additional layer of security for the parties and prevent potential fraudulent activities.

Postnuptial Agreement Enforcement in Texas

There are multiple requirements that every Texas postnuptial agreement must meet in order to be considered enforceable.

First, the postnuptial agreement form should include a complete and truthful disclosure of the financial status of each spouse. Spouses can make such disclosures by providing a list of assets and liabilities that they have acquired before signing the document.

Second, the provisions of the postnuptial agreement must be fair to both parties involved in the agreement.

Finally, each party must enter the postnuptial agreement voluntarily. This means that there should be no pressure, coercion, duress, fraud, or any other kind of manipulation of a spouse's free will to enter the postnuptial agreement.

What Can a Postnuptial Agreement in Texas Cover?

A postnuptial agreement template in Texas can cover different matters connected with the financial and non-financial relationships of the spouses.

In this section, you can see the matters that are most commonly regulated by the Texas postnuptial agreement template:

Postnuptial Agreement in Texas: Validity Criteria

The Texas postnuptial agreement must meet the formality criteria outlined in the state law in order to be considered valid. This means that it must be made in written form and that both spouses must sign the document.

Moreover, the validity of the postnup agreement is in direct connection with the existence and validity of the marriage. The parties can enter the postnup agreement only after they get married. Moreover, if the marriage is invalid, that will also have an effect on the validity of the postnuptial agreement.