Louisiana matrimonial-agreement form
A matrimonial agreement made before or during marriage must be an authentic act or an act under private signature duly acknowledged by the spouses.
La. Civ. Code art. 2331LA · Manually written guide
Prenup laws in Louisiana
Louisiana treats the document as a matrimonial agreement within its civil-law regime and requires an authentic act or an act under private signature duly acknowledged.La. Civ. Code art. 2331La. Civ. Code art. 2328
Louisiana's public-policy and regime rules differ from a generic uniform-act analysis, and mid-marriage changes can raise separate court-approval questions.La. Civ. Code art. 2328La. Civ. Code art. 2329
Evidence tiersection verified
Package versionla-2026-07-23.3
Authorities24
Reviewed2026-07-23
Effective through2026-07-23
Formation and lifecycle
Execution requirements to investigate
Louisiana authentic-act execution requirements
An authentic act requires execution before an authorized notary or officer in the presence of two witnesses and signatures by each executing party, each witness, and each notary, subject to the article's separate-execution rules.
La. Civ. Code art. 1833Louisiana duly acknowledged private-act requirements
A party may duly acknowledge a private signature by recognizing it before a court, notary, or other authorized officer in the presence of two witnesses, or in another legally authorized manner.
La. Civ. Code art. 1836Louisiana Supreme Court pre-marriage perfection rule
A private-signature premarital agreement must be duly acknowledged before marriage; later acknowledgment does not cure the missing pre-marriage form without satisfying the during-marriage regime-change rules.
Acurio v. Acurio, 2016-C-1395 (La. May 3, 2017), 224 So. 3d 935Louisiana during-marriage regime-change requirements
A during-marriage agreement that modifies or terminates a matrimonial regime generally requires a joint petition and court findings on best interests and understanding of the governing principles and rules.
La. Civ. Code art. 2329Louisiana new-domicile first-year exception
During the first year after moving to and acquiring a Louisiana domicile, spouses may enter a matrimonial agreement without court approval.
La. Civ. Code art. 2329Louisiana codal history and applicability boundary
Louisiana's current matrimonial-regime framework derives from the 1979 enactment, with article 2329 amended in 1980; Louisiana has no UPAA or UPMAA applicability schedule.
Acts 1979, No. 709, § 1; Acts 1980, No. 565, § 1; Acurio v. Acurio, 224 So. 3d 935 (La. 2017)What the agreement addresses
Permitted subjects and legal limits
Louisiana matrimonial-agreement definition and property scope
A matrimonial agreement establishes a separation-of-property regime or modifies or terminates the legal regime, while unexcluded provisions of the legal regime remain effective.
La. Civ. Code art. 2328Louisiana express limits on matrimonial contractual freedom
Spouses may not alter the marital portion or established succession order and may not limit, as to third persons, specified powers that one spouse has under the legal regime over community obligations and property.
La. Civ. Code art. 2330Louisiana registry effect toward third persons
A matrimonial agreement affects third persons as to immovables when filed in the conveyance records where the property is situated and as to movables when filed where the spouses are domiciled.
La. Civ. Code art. 2332Louisiana mandatory public-interest boundary
Parties cannot derogate by juridical act from laws enacted to protect the public interest; a contrary act is absolutely null.
La. Civ. Code art. 7Louisiana Supreme Court permanent-support waiver decision
McAlpine holds that a premarital waiver of permanent post-divorce support is not automatically void as against public policy and may be enforced subject to ordinary contract-rescission grounds.
McAlpine v. McAlpine, 94-C-1594 (La. Sept. 5, 1996), 679 So. 2d 85Louisiana current spousal-support statutes
Current law separately authorizes interim and final periodic support and applies distinct needs, ability-to-pay, fault, duration, and domestic-abuse rules.
La. Civ. Code arts. 111–113Louisiana child-custody best-interest boundary
In divorce proceedings the court must award custody according to the child's best interest, so a premarital custody allocation cannot bind the future court.
La. Civ. Code art. 131Louisiana child-support guideline and judicial-review boundary
The child-support guidelines presumptively supply the proper amount; a deviation requires court review, statutory grounds, reasons, and attention to the child's best interest.
La. R.S. 9:315.1Louisiana current error and later-conduct application
Crow affirmed enforcement after finding insufficient proof of error and explained that joint tax filing or acquiring property during marriage did not automatically convert the agreed separate-property regime.
Crow v. Crow, 56,445-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. Nov. 19, 2025)Process evidence
Financial disclosure, voluntariness, counsel, and timing
Louisiana timing and court-approval structure
Spouses may agree before or during marriage on matters not prohibited by public policy, but a during-marriage modification or termination generally requires a joint petition and findings that it serves their best interests and that they understand the governing rules.
La. Civ. Code art. 2329Louisiana contractual vices of consent
Consent to a contract may be vitiated by error, fraud, or duress, and those conventional-obligation grounds apply to matrimonial agreements alongside their special form rules.
La. Civ. Code art. 1948Louisiana statutory duress standard
Duress vitiates consent when it causes reasonable fear of unjust and considerable injury to person, property, or reputation, considering the party's age, health, disposition, and other personal circumstances.
La. Civ. Code art. 1959Louisiana lawful-act threat boundary
A threat to do a lawful act or exercise a right generally is not duress, although an act lawful only in appearance may qualify.
La. Civ. Code art. 1962Louisiana fact-specific signing-timeline decision
Burtner affirmed enforcement of an authentic-act agreement signed three days before the wedding on credibility findings that rejected fraud and duress; Louisiana has no fixed numerical waiting period.
Burtner v. Burtner, 2019-0175 (La. App. 1 Cir. Oct. 1, 2019)Louisiana independent-counsel boundary
Burtner treated advice to seek independent counsel and the opportunity record as evidence bearing on consent, but Louisiana's matrimonial-agreement articles do not make separate counsel an execution formality.
Burtner v. Burtner, 2019-0175 (La. App. 1 Cir. Oct. 1, 2019)Louisiana Supreme Court contract-rescission framework
A support-waiving antenuptial agreement remains subject to the same rescission grounds as other contracts, and McAlpine upheld the agreement after rejecting undue duress on its record.
McAlpine v. McAlpine, 94-C-1594 (La. Sept. 5, 1996), 679 So. 2d 85Louisiana financial-disclosure evidence boundary
Louisiana's matrimonial-agreement articles contain no UPAA-style disclosure safe harbor; asset schedules, representations, and actual knowledge remain important evidence for fraud, error, scope, and informed consent.
McAlpine v. McAlpine, 679 So. 2d 85 (La. 1996); Crow v. Crow, 56,445-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. Nov. 19, 2025)Hypotheticals, not outcomes
Practical examples
These examples show how document facts can intersect with the cited sources. They do not predict a court result.
The privately signed document
The parties sign privately without clear acknowledgment language. Louisiana's article 2331 formality makes the execution method a threshold issue.La. Civ. Code art. 2331
Ask local counsel
Does the document qualify as an authentic act or a duly acknowledged private act?
The regime change after marriage
The spouses later agree to change their property regime. Louisiana's mid-marriage framework can require more than simply signing an amendment.La. Civ. Code art. 2328La. Civ. Code art. 2329
Ask local counsel
Is judicial approval required, and were the civil-law prerequisites satisfied?
Common starting points
Louisiana prenup FAQs
Answers are deliberately scoped to the cited evidence package and should be checked against current law.
What form must a Louisiana matrimonial agreement take?
Civil Code article 2331 requires an authentic act or an act under private signature duly acknowledged.La. Civ. Code art. 2331
What does a matrimonial agreement control?
Articles 2328 and 2329 define and limit agreements establishing a matrimonial regime, subject to Louisiana public policy.La. Civ. Code art. 2328
Are mid-marriage changes treated the same way?
The cited Louisiana material identifies court-approval requirements for certain matrimonial-regime changes during marriage.La. Civ. Code art. 2329
Prepare for independent advice
Questions for a Louisiana lawyer
Bring the agreement, every exhibit, prior drafts, disclosure records, and a signing timeline. Then use the source-linked questions as an interview guide.
- 01
Which article 2331 form was used, and does the complete executed instrument satisfy it?La. Civ. Code art. 2331
- 02
Which provisions of the legal regime does the agreement actually exclude or modify?La. Civ. Code art. 2328
- 03
Was the transaction completed before marriage, or did article 2329 require judicial approval?La. Civ. Code art. 2329
- 04
Does each party's execution satisfy every element of article 1833?La. Civ. Code art. 1833
- 05
How and when did each spouse duly acknowledge the private signature?La. Civ. Code art. 1836
- 06
Were both private signatures duly acknowledged before the marriage ceremony?Acurio v. Acurio, 2016-C-1395 (La. May 3, 2017), 224 So. 3d 935
- 07
Does any clause cross article 2330's succession or third-person limits?La. Civ. Code art. 2330
- 08
Where and when was the agreement filed for registry, and which third-person dispute is involved?La. Civ. Code art. 2332
- 09
Does the disputed term derogate from a law enacted for public protection?La. Civ. Code art. 7
- 10
What admissible facts establish or defeat error, fraud, or duress?La. Civ. Code art. 1948
- 11
What threatened injury and personal circumstances existed at signing?La. Civ. Code art. 1959
- 12
Was the alleged pressure only a lawful refusal to marry, or did additional wrongful conduct create cognizable duress?La. Civ. Code art. 1962
- 13
What does the full delivery, negotiation, execution, and wedding chronology show?Burtner v. Burtner, 2019-0175 (La. App. 1 Cir. Oct. 1, 2019)
- 14
What conflict-free advice and meaningful opportunity to obtain it did each party actually have?Burtner v. Burtner, 2019-0175 (La. App. 1 Cir. Oct. 1, 2019)
- 15
What support right does the exact clause waive, and is the agreement otherwise valid?McAlpine v. McAlpine, 94-C-1594 (La. Sept. 5, 1996), 679 So. 2d 85
- 16
Which conventional-obligation ground is asserted and what evidence supports it?McAlpine v. McAlpine, 94-C-1594 (La. Sept. 5, 1996), 679 So. 2d 85
- 17
What was disclosed, represented, or actually known before signing, and how does any omission relate to a pleaded consent defect?McAlpine v. McAlpine, 679 So. 2d 85 (La. 1996); Crow v. Crow, 56,445-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. Nov. 19, 2025)
- 18
Did the claimed amendment or revocation alter the regime during marriage, and where is the required petition and judgment?La. Civ. Code art. 2329
- 19
Did both spouses move to and acquire a Louisiana domicile, and was the agreement completed within the statutory first year?La. Civ. Code art. 2329
- 20
Which present support remedy is claimed, and does McAlpine reach that exact remedy and clause?La. Civ. Code arts. 111–113
- 21
Does any term purport to bind a future custody decision rather than state a nonbinding preference?La. Civ. Code art. 131
- 22
Does any term attempt to waive, cap, or predetermine child support without current guideline review?La. R.S. 9:315.1
- 23
What evidence proves the claimed signing-time error or a legally effective later regime change?Crow v. Crow, 56,445-CA (La. App. 2 Cir. Nov. 19, 2025)
- 24
When was the agreement executed and what Civil Code text and decisions then governed?Acts 1979, No. 709, § 1; Acts 1980, No. 565, § 1; Acurio v. Acurio, 224 So. 3d 935 (La. 2017)
Known boundaries
Package limitations
- This package encodes the cited official statutory sections but does not decide how a court would apply them to particular facts.
- Later amendments, decisions, court rules, conflicts rules, and local practice require continuing review.
- Attorney review is optional and can add a professional opinion; this package supports transparent research and issue spotting without prior endorsement.