A North Dakota prenuptial agreement is a record, signed by two people who intend to marry, that affirms, modifies, or waives a marital right or obligation.[1.1] It takes effect when the couple marries.[1.6]
The agreement can set the rules for property, financial responsibilities, and spousal support during the marriage, at separation, at divorce, or on the death of a spouse.[1.1] It cannot cut a child's right to support, and any term about parental rights and responsibilities is not binding on the court.[1.9]
Chapter 14-03.2 of the North Dakota Century Code governs every premarital or marital agreement signed after July 31, 2013.[1.2] For the rules in other states, see our prenuptial agreement template guide.
You will also see this document called a premarital agreement, an antenuptial agreement, or just a prenup. The statute uses "premarital agreement" for the version a couple signs before the wedding and "marital agreement" for the version spouses sign afterwards.[1.1]
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A premarital agreement is an agreement between individuals who intend to marry that affirms, modifies, or waives a marital right or obligation. The same chapter covers the marital agreement, which spouses sign when they intend to remain married. Either document must be in a record and signed by both parties.[1.1][1.5]
Each one is a contract between the two people who sign it. Each reaches the same subjects: a marital right or obligation during the marriage, at separation, at marital dissolution, on the death of a spouse, or on any other event the couple names.[1.1] Marital dissolution is the statute's term for divorce.
The difference is timing. Prenuptial agreements are signed before the wedding, while a postnuptial agreement is signed by spouses who are already married.
The rules for both agreements sit in one chapter of Title 14 of the North Dakota Century Code, at Sections 14-03.2-01 through 14-03.2-11. They cover how the contract is signed, when it takes effect, what it may cover, and when a court can refuse to enforce it. Sections 14-03.2-05 and 14-03.2-08 carry most of the weight, because together they set the signing formalities and the grounds that make an agreement unenforceable.[1.5][1.8]
An agreement must be in a record and signed by both parties.[1.5] The statute does not ask for a notary or for witnesses, and no one other than the two parties needs to sign.
A premarital agreement or marital agreement must be in a record and signed by both parties. The agreement is enforceable without consideration.
The chapter also modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.[1.11] It leaves two parts of that act alone, sections 101(c) and 103(b).[1.11]
A premarital agreement is effective on marriage.[1.6] A marital agreement is effective on signing by both parties.[1.6] Neither one needs consideration, so nothing has to be paid or exchanged to make the promises binding.[1.5]
The parties may name the law that governs the agreement.[1.3] That choice holds only when both of the following are true:
Principles of law and equity may not supplement an agreement executed in accordance with this chapter, and may not be used to alter a material term in it.[1.4] If a marriage is later determined to be void, the agreement is still enforceable to the extent necessary to avoid an inequitable result.[1.7]
A statute of limitations on a claim under the agreement is tolled during the marriage.[1.10] Equitable defenses that limit the time for enforcement, including laches and estoppel, stay available to either party.[1.10]
A prenup can affirm, modify, or waive a marital right or obligation, which reaches rights in property, the management of property, financial responsibilities, and spousal support. The agreement can say what happens during the marriage, at separation, at marital dissolution, on the death of a spouse, or on another event the couple picks.[1.1]
In practice, most of the drafting goes into two jobs. You protect an asset one of you already owns, and you settle who carries which debt.
Waiving spousal support has a limit. If the waiver would leave a spouse eligible for public assistance at separation or marital dissolution, the court can order the other spouse to pay support to the extent needed to avoid that eligibility.[1.8]
Some clauses are unenforceable in these agreements no matter what the couple agrees. A term is unenforceable to the extent that it adversely affects a child's right to support.[1.9] A term that defines the parties' rights or duties about parental rights and responsibilities, which is where child custody and parenting time sit, is not binding on the court.[1.9]
Child support and child custody are decided by the court under other parts of North Dakota family law, so a prenup cannot settle them in advance. A term is also unenforceable to the extent that it:
An agreement is unenforceable if the party resisting it proves any one of four things. The four grounds are involuntary consent or duress, no access to independent legal representation, a missing notice of waiver of rights, and inadequate financial disclosure.[1.8]
Family law attorneys draft most prenuptial agreements, and the notice-of-waiver rule exists for the case where one party signs without an attorney.
Even an agreement that clears every signing rule can lose a term in court. A court may refuse to enforce a term if, read in the context of the agreement as a whole, the term was unconscionable when it was signed.[1.8] A court may also refuse a term when enforcement would cause substantial hardship because of a material change in circumstances after signing.[1.8]
The court decides a question of unconscionability or substantial hardship as a matter of law.[1.8]
There is no filing step and no court approval. You and your partner write the agreement, put it in a record, and sign it before the wedding. It takes effect on the day you marry, and nothing has to be exchanged for it to bind you.[1.5][1.6]
No, North Dakota is not a 50/50 divorce state. When a divorce is granted, the court makes an equitable distribution of the property and debts of the parties, which is not the same as an automatic even split.[2]
That is the main reason couples sign a prenup. It lets you fix your own division of property and your own answer on spousal support, instead of leaving both to a divorce court.[1.1]
Last Updated: September 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current North Dakota law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
