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Why Your Prenup's Notary Needs to be a Stranger

July 18, 2024
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Your marital agreement and notarization: did you know that you have options?

You took another big step forward when you both approved the draft of your prenup, which is no longer a draft. It's the final version of your Prenuptial Agreement, and it needs to be notarized. 


Whether you decided to DIY your prenup, or to seek traditional representation by an attorney, or to mediate your prenup together, your next step is executing your Prenuptial Agreement. "Executing" means that you are signing the Agreement with witnesses and a notary.


Some professionals include notarization as one service among other prenuptial agreement services. 


JustPrenups is not one of them. We do not provide a notary via our company, and we do not recommend particular notaries either. 

 

JustPrenups directs our clients to an outside service to provide notarization as we do not want to notarize - essentially approve and validate - our own work. 


We want external notaries to see for themselves that you are both acting voluntarily and not under any apparent chemical influence, cognitive impairment, duress or coercion, any of which may be grounds to invalidate a prenup.

 

At JustPrenups, your next step is to choose a notary after you finalize the content of your Agreement. Not all notaries operate in the same way, even though the results are the same.  You may choose from three basic categories:


  1. an in-person notary (e.g., your local bank usually has a notary).
  2. a remote notary (i.e., online notary services), which usually has more verification requirements because they are completing online transactions. 
  3. or a mobile notary (i.e., the notary comes to your physical location). 

 

Consider the following notarization tips: 


  1. Call the notary in advance to check on hours, fees, and parking.
  2. Ask what credentials you need to bring with you. This issue is more critical for international partners.
  3. Print more than one copy of your Agreement to bring with you to the notary in case you make a mistake while signing or in case of the notary making a mistake. Note that you are bringing the extra copies only in case of an emergency, such as the notary's stamp not working properly, etc. The intent here is to be prepared and to avoid an extra trip, not to make multiple copies.
  4. Check every page: ensure that all pages were actually printed and are in order.
  5. Check every page of your print-outs: ensure that the black ink printed evenly such that every word is readable after scanning. Make sure that there are no smudges obscuring a letter or punctuation mark, any of which could be critical to interpretation if the Agreement is ever contested. 
  6. Remember that both partners need to initial each page. 

 

We have an ironclad rule: you must work with only one original copy to avoid any confusion that occurs if you create multiple original versions. JustPrenups prioritizes simplicity and security.


Next, what are the nuts and bolts - the mechanical "how" part - of approaching this process? See below.


Many couples opt to execute their Agreement together before the notary, and that is your option. But be aware that the couple is not required to be present together for simultaneous notarization.


JustPrenups would like you to consider creating another layer of validity to your Agreement through notarizing your Agreement separately. How does that work? Partner 1 signs with the notary, and then that Agreement (with Partner 1's notarized, dated, witnessed signature) is given to Partner 2 to create the same dated, witnessed signature before a notary. 


What is the advantage of notarizing the Agreement separately? Here's an illustration. Let's say that there is duress in the relationship that is covert, and the dynamic is coercive enough to leave the other partner obedient out of fear. The separate notarizations provide an opportunity for the oppressed partner to take space safely to say no by failing to notarize.

Do you want yet another layer of integrity and protection for your Agreement? 


Keep your Prenuptial Agreement  close and your notary a stranger. 


If you use your friend or your employee as a notary, the rigors of the process may be lost, and the appearance of self-dealing could be damning if your Agreement is ever challenged in family court.


At JustPrenups, we ask that you share with us a PDF of your executed Agreement (i.e., the initialed, signed, dated, notarized, single original copy), and of course, all of our clients are free to share wedding pictures (especially if your pets are in them)! 


DISCLAIMER: This information is offered as a helpful guide for our retained clients only.  Any material offered on this website does not constitute legal advice and does not create a professional relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.

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By 7107328235 March 27, 2025
A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can save your business. Consider two dry cleaners, Ricky and Fred. Both thought they would be married to their wives until “death do they part.” Unfortunately, they both ended up divorced. Ricky walked out of divorce court personally and professionally ruined. Fred, while emotionally drained, was able to maintain and grow his successful business. Why the different outcomes? Ricky’s Story Ricky owned a dry cleaning business with Lucy, his wife of 19 years. Ricky was in charge of all aspects of the business, but Lucy did manage the company’s payroll and vendors part-time. Occasionally, she worked the front counter. For the most part, Lucy raised the children and cared for her elderly parents. When they decided to divorce, Ricky and Lucy were still civil and wanted their divorce to be amicable. Ricky and Lucy worked together, without lawyers, to craft a plan for sharing time with their teenage sons, and for sharing the family’s expenses. They also agreed to sell their house after their youngest son graduated high school. After a few months, and at the urging of a well-intentioned friend, Lucy hired a lawyer to write up the couples’ plan. Lucy’s main goal was to make sure the divorce ended fairly for her children. The lawyer, however, believed that since any small business owner could hide income, assets, or a company’s true value, then Ricky must be doing that too. Even though Lucy had a base of knowledge of the business’s finances, she trusted her lawyer and figured that he knew better. So, she agreed to his “scorched earth” strategy to protect her children. What is a “scorched earth strategy”? This is a common tactic to squeeze a business owner into a large and early settlement. The lawyer hires an accountant, and they go after every scrap of information and document pertaining to the company’s assets and liabilities, and they question it all—every argument and angle of attack is fair game. Much of the cost of providing the information and documents, and defending business decisions, must be paid by the business. Scared and desperate, Ricky lawyered up too. Unfortunately, Ricky’s lawyer couldn’t advise him on the settlement terms proposed by Lucy’s lawyer without conducting his own analysis of the company’s voluminous records. Much of the paper work involved in operating a dry cleaning business was foreign to him, and the stringent environmental regulations and reporting was overwhelming. Ricky’s lawyer had to hire his own accountant to help value the business for the divorce. Ricky and Lucy were now far from civil with one another, and the mud began to fly. Faced with dueling accountants, complicated and conflicting arguments about the business’s finances and value, and accusations against Ricky of financial wrongdoing, the family court judge appointed an independent forensic accountant to advise the court. The independent accountant saw that the business, which was the couple’s biggest asset, was crumbling because the ugly divorce was keeping Ricky from focusing on the business. The accountant was also worried about the accusations of financial wrongdoing by Ricky. So, on the independent accountant’s recommendation, the court appointed a receiver to operate and protect the dry cleaning business. Ricky and Lucy were now paying six different professionals, and trial was still months away. The receiver discovered that the company’s records did not comply with dry cleaning waste disposal regulations, and reported the non-compliance to government authorities. Ricky and Lucy blamed each other for the missing paperwork, and the sour relationship between them stalled and ultimately prevented joint efforts at an amnesty program and damage control. The business began to accrue daily statutory fines, employees were laid off, debts mounted, and the business eventually shut its doors while Ricky and Lucy continued to fight in divorce court. A year later, with no business to provide income for Ricky or Lucy, Ricky agreed to settle by paying Lucy more than half of his share of the house. Lucy accepted the offer, even though it was smaller then what she expected originally, because her share of the house was pledged to pay her lawyer’s fees. Fred’s Story Fred was married to Ethel for 22 years, and they have a daughter. Like Ricky and Lucy, Fred ran the business while Ethel was involved part-time in just certain aspects. But unlike Ricky and Lucy, when Fred bought his dry cleaning business nine years earlier, Fred and Ethel signed a postnuptial agreement to protect each other in case of divorce. The attorney-drafted agreement laid out a strict structure for evaluating and dividing the business, and for determining Fred’s true income for spousal and child support calculations. It identified and limited the financial information and documents that the business would have to disclose. It also required that the couple use a single neutral accountant (who would be paid from marital property and not by the company), to gather and evaluate that financial information and documentation. Early in the divorce, Ethel agreed that the postnuptial agreement was valid. She waived any right to ask the court to force the company to disclose more information or documents than described in the postnuptial agreement. This entitled Ethel to an immediate, fair, and higher award of support, thanks to a provision that she and Fred put in the agreement to encourage a quick resolution. Within a month, Fred and Ethel’s divorce was finalized, with minimal attorneys’ and accountant fees, and with no interference or intrusion into the dry cleaning business or operations. How could two similarly situated businesses and families leave divorce court with such different results? The first story is horrifying, but exceedingly common. Many states have onerous disclosure requirements that unnecessarily burden the time and finances of a small business. Unscrupulous divorce lawyers are trained to hone in and target a business owner’s fear of having the business’s confidential and financial information exposed to the world, to induce an early and usually unfair settlement. Fair and careful divorce lawyers will also want extensive company records, because they fear being liable for giving bad advice if they make recommendations without investigating the whole picture themselves. Either way, good lawyer or a bad one, smart judge or not, a case involving a small business can be very costly. The best way to avoid being a Ricky, is to get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement like Fred. A good prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render the most intrusive and damaging financial disclosures unnecessary, and can limit or attribute the related costs away from the business. In some situations, as shown above, they can save the business itself. If Ricky had a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, maybe a receiver would not have been necessary, and Ricky and Lucy could have resolved the business’s regulatory problems confidentially without going out of business. Ricky and Fred were not wrong to believe in their marriages. A life-long commitment is not fanciful; it is a hopeful and beautiful goal. Most couples think they will reach that goal and that other couples will fill our country’s depressing divorce statistics. But consider this, we buy life insurance, install security systems, and wear seat belts “just in case.” They give us security even if we think that odds will always be in our favor. A careful and thorough prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can provide you, your spouse, and your business with security that all will be protected in a divorce, and that years of building a life and a business will not be burned to the ground. Chantale Suttle is the Managing Attorney and Founder of DADvocacy™ Law Firm, which is headquartered in Miami, Florida. She has been in the exclusive practice of family law for over 21 years and has served countless small business owners in divorce court. Drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for small business owners is her favorite work.
A couple sits on a bench as one person reaches out to the other who is turned away.
By 7107328235 January 15, 2025
Your fiancé or fiancée presented you with a prenuptial draft: will you sign it before you hear wedding bells? Now you need a review by an attorney to ensure that your assets and your future security are protected: welcome to JustPrenups' prenup review! JustPrenups now offers UPLOADR: quickly share your prenup draft easily from any device in multiples format through UPLOADR on our site - no scanning, no email. Once we receive your prenup draft, an attorney examines the prenup that you received and then meets with you for a free consultation on Zoom. We hold your document and its data in confidence, even if you don't retain us, per our ethical requirements.
A couple walks along a Florida beach by the water in sunshine.
By 7107328235 December 26, 2024
Florida is a quirky place full of contrasts, and so is its family law. In particular, recent updates to Florida family law have changed the rules for alimony in Florida prenups. If your prenuptial agreement doesn't follow these changed rules, your prenup may not be valid and enforceable; as a result, you may be facing high financial stakes in divorce litigation that may put your assets at risk.
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