A South Carolina prenuptial agreement is a written contract two people sign before they marry. It sets out how property, debt, and spousal support will be handled if the marriage ends. State law treats it as a written contract that can keep named property out of the marital estate. Property excluded that way is not divided at divorce.[1]
South Carolina has not adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, so no single statute lists every rule. Two code sections do most of the work. Section 20-3-630 of the S.C. Code Ann. sets out when a family court treats an antenuptial agreement as presumptively fair.[1] Section 62-2-204 controls what it takes to waive a surviving spouse's inheritance rights.[2]
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
South Carolina statutes call this document an antenuptial agreement. You will also see it called a prenup, a premarital agreement, or a marriage contract. All four names describe the same thing, a written contract signed before a wedding.
A prenuptial agreement is a financial contract, signed while both people are still engaged. It takes effect when the marriage takes place. In South Carolina the document is a written contract, and the assets it names as separate stay outside the pool a family court divides at divorce.[1] It does not change either parent's legal duties toward their children.
Under Section 20-3-630(A)(4) of the S.C. Code Ann., property the couple has excluded by written contract is not marital property. That single clause is what gives a prenup its force in a South Carolina divorce. Name an asset as separate and the judge leaves it out of the pool it divides.[1]
Couples decide what goes in. South Carolina law does not publish a required prenup form, and no statute lists clauses that every agreement must contain, so the terms are open to negotiation. Most prenuptial agreements deal with these items:
A prenuptial agreement is most useful when the two of you start out with unequal assets. It also earns its keep when one of you owns a business, or when either of you has children from an earlier relationship. It fixes the terms while you both still agree, instead of leaving them to a judge in a divorce.
Even with no wealth gap, putting one together forces a complete inventory of what each of you owns and owes before the wedding.
South Carolina has no single statute listing prenup formalities. What Section 20-3-630(A)(4) of the S.C. Code Ann. does say is when a family court treats an antenuptial agreement as presumptively fair and equitable. That presumption matters because it decides who has to prove the agreement was fair if one spouse later attacks it.[1]
The statute sets three conditions for that presumption:
"Written contract" includes any antenuptial agreement of the parties which must be considered presumptively fair and equitable so long as it was voluntarily executed with both parties separately represented by counsel and pursuant to the full financial disclosure to each other that is mandated by the rules of the family court as to income, debts, and assets
South Carolina requires the prenup to be in writing and signed by both people.[1] The state does not require a notary or witnesses for the contract to be valid. Many couples still sign in front of a notary. A notary confirms both identities and records that each person signed willingly, which is harder to dispute later.
South Carolina family courts do enforce prenuptial agreements, so properly made prenuptial agreements do work here. The agreement takes effect when the marriage takes place. If the wedding never happens, the agreement is void and neither person is bound by it. To change the terms after the wedding, couples sign a new written agreement.
Yes, two people can write and sign their own prenuptial agreement, and a template is a normal starting point. What you give up is the statutory presumption of fairness. Section 20-3-630(A)(4) of the S.C. Code Ann. grants that presumption only when both parties were separately represented by counsel and exchanged full financial disclosure of income, debts, and assets.[1]
Without separate legal counsel, a judge starts from no presumption either way. The spouse relying on the agreement may have to prove it was fair. Some South Carolina family law firms read the same section more strictly, as making separate representation a condition of validity for a property agreement.
For prenuptial agreements covering a house, a business, or a large retirement account, that disagreement alone is a reason to get legal advice from each side's own attorneys.
Building a South Carolina prenup takes four steps: agree on the terms, exchange financial records, put the terms in writing, and sign before the wedding. The order matters, because disclosure has to happen before signing for the statutory presumption of fairness to apply.[1]
A South Carolina family court can refuse to enforce a prenuptial agreement, in whole or in part. The usual grounds are a signature that was not voluntary or disclosure that was incomplete. A judge can also strike terms so one sided that they are unconscionable. Section 20-3-630(A)(4) ties the presumption of fairness to voluntary signing and full disclosure.[1]
Keep the agreement to money, property, and debt. Clauses about children, clauses that reward divorce, and clauses about day to day married life are the three groups South Carolina law will not enforce.
Child custody and child support stay with the court. A prenup cannot fix custody, visitation, or child support issues. A South Carolina family court decides those questions on the child's best interests at the time. A clause trying to settle them in advance can put the rest of the agreement at risk.
Yes. A spouse can give up rights a surviving spouse would otherwise have in the other's estate. Section 62-2-204 of the S.C. Code Ann. names three of them, and the waiver can be whole or partial. It can be signed either before or after the marriage.[2]
A waiver signed after the wedding is a postnuptial agreement rather than a prenup, and Section 62-2-204 accepts either one.
The same section sets what a valid waiver takes. It has to be a written contract, agreement, or waiver, voluntarily signed by the person giving up the rights. Before signing, that person must have received fair and reasonable disclosures of the other party's property and financial obligations, given in writing.[2]
A broad waiver reaches further than people expect. Unless the document says otherwise, a waiver of all rights in the property or estate of a present or prospective spouse waives the elective share, the homestead allowance, and exempt property. A complete property settlement made after or in anticipation of separation or divorce has the same effect.
Each spouse also disclaims anything that would otherwise have passed from the other by intestate succession, or under a will signed before the waiver.[2]
No. South Carolina divides marital property equitably, which means a judge splits it fairly rather than automatically in half. It is not a community property state. A prenup changes the starting point, because Section 20-3-630(A)(4) of the S.C. Code Ann. keeps whatever the couple excluded by written contract out of the marital estate.[1]
Without an agreement, a judge decides what an equitable split looks like. With an agreement, the assets you named as separate never enter that calculation.
Last Updated: September 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current South Carolina law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
Unless noted otherwise, the sources below are from the S.C. Code Ann..