A Vermont prenuptial agreement is a written contract that two people sign before they marry. It sets out how their property, debts, and support obligations will be handled if the marriage ends. Vermont has no premarital agreement statute, so courts read the document as a contract and apply the standards the Vermont Supreme Court has laid down.
The same contract can waive inheritance rights that probate law would otherwise give a surviving spouse. It cannot settle child custody or child support, and a judge will set it aside if it was signed under pressure or without honest financial disclosure. Our prenuptial agreement guide covers the terms that apply in every state.
Build Your Document
Answer a few simple questions to make your document in minutes
Save and Print
Save progress and finish on any device, download and print anytime
Sign and Use
Your valid, lawyer-approved document is ready
A Vermont prenuptial agreement is also called a premarital agreement, an antenuptial agreement, or simply a prenup. All four names describe the same legal contract. If you are already married, the equivalent document is a postnuptial agreement.
Vermont has never adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, so no single statute sets out how a prenup must be written. Premarital agreements are still valid and enforceable in the state. Courts treat the document as an ordinary contract, judged against the standards the Vermont Supreme Court has laid down. Separate probate statutes govern any waiver of inheritance rights.
The two decisions that carry the most weight are Bassler v. Bassler, 156 Vt. 353 (1991) and Stalb v. Stalb, 168 Vt. 235 (1998). Between them they set the voluntariness, disclosure, and fairness tests that Vermont courts apply to premarital agreements, described below.
Vermont's statute of frauds covers any agreement made in consideration of civil marriage. Such an agreement must be in writing and signed by the party to be charged.[1] A spoken promise about property made before the wedding carries no legal force.
An action at law shall not be brought in the following cases unless the promise, contract, or agreement upon which such action is brought or some memorandum or note thereof is in writing, signed by the party to be charged therewith or by some person thereunto by him or her lawfully authorized: (1) A special promise of an executor or administrator to answer damages out of his or her own estate. (2) A special promise to answer for the debt, default, or misdoings of another. (3) An agreement made in consideration of civil marriage.
Vermont law does not make a notary or witnesses part of the test. Many couples still sign in front of a notary, because a notarized signature is far easier to prove years later. Sign well before the wedding, so nobody can argue afterwards that the date left them no real choice.
Under Vermont case law a prenup is enforced like any other contract when three things are true:
Courts will not enforce agreements whose terms leave one spouse destitute or dependent on public assistance. In Bassler the Vermont Supreme Court refused to enforce an agreement that left the wife with nothing while she was receiving public aid.
Disclosure is the requirement couples get wrong most often. List every account, property, business interest, and debt in a schedule attached to the agreement, or in a sworn financial affidavit. That makes a later claim of concealment much harder to sustain.
A Vermont prenup is mainly a property and money document. It decides what each spouse keeps as separate property, how assets and income earned during the marriage are treated, who carries which debt, and whether spousal maintenance is waived. Its terms commonly deal with:
This is the one part of a Vermont prenup that a statute does govern. Title 14 lets a spouse give up the inheritance rights that probate law would otherwise hand them. The waiver must be written and signed by the spouse who is giving the right up. It can be signed before the wedding or during the marriage, and it can surrender those rights in whole or in part.
Section 323(a) is the provision that allows it. One written instrument, signed by the waiving spouse, can give up:[2.2]
The elective share is what a widow or widower can claim instead of what the will leaves them. Under Section 319(a), a surviving spouse may waive the will and take one-half of the balance of the probate estate, after allowances, claims, and expenses are paid.[2.1]
A guardian may sign the waiver for the waiving spouse. So may an agent under a power of attorney that expressly grants the authority to make the election.[2.6]
A written waiver of spousal rights starts out presumed valid, so the spouse challenging it carries the burden of proof. Title 14 lists four grounds that defeat that presumption, and every one of them is about how the waiver was obtained rather than how generous it turned out to be. Proving a single ground is enough.
Those last two grounds are the practical reason Vermont couples exchange a full financial schedule and each hire their own attorney. A spouse who had neither can argue later that the waiver should not stand.
Signing a few days before the wedding is the mistake Vermont courts hear about most. Late timing feeds a legal claim that consent was not voluntary, and voluntariness is the first ground on the list above. Give each other weeks, not days.
No. Vermont divides property equitably rather than in automatic halves, and neither spouse is entitled to a fixed share. Vermont also reaches further than most states: every asset either spouse owns is on the table, however and whenever it was acquired. Property you brought into the marriage, and gifts or inheritances you received during it, can all be divided.
Section 751 of Title 15 puts all property owned by either or both parties under the jurisdiction of the court, and directs the judge to divide and assign it equitably.[3] Whose name sits on the title does not settle the question. Section 751(b) lists the factors a judge may weigh:[3]
That breadth is why a prenup does more work in Vermont than in states where premarital property is automatically separate. Without one, a judge decides what is fair, and equitable distribution is not the same thing as an even split.
A prenup cannot decide anything that belongs to a child, and it cannot bind the judge who later decides what is best for that child. Vermont judges also strike terms that offend public policy, however carefully the contract is drafted. Each item below is either unenforceable on its own or enough to cast doubt on the rest of the agreement.
Start months before the wedding, not weeks. The work itself is plain enough. Each of you lists what you own and owe, you agree on how it will be treated, an attorney for each side reviews the draft, and both of you sign. The order matters, because rushing any step gives a court a reason to set the agreement aside later.
Last Updated: September 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current Vermont law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
