In short. A prenuptial agreement is signed either by people who have filed a marriage registration application or by spouses (Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine). It governs only property relations: the property regime, use of housing, spousal support, and property obligations toward children (Articles 93, 97–99 of the Family Code of Ukraine). It must be in writing and notarized (Article 94 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The agreement cannot reduce a child's rights, place either spouse in an extremely disadvantageous financial position, or transfer ownership of real estate (paras. 4–5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine). It can be amended by consent or by a court (Article 100), terminated by mutual waiver (Article 101) or by a court on material grounds (Article 102), and declared invalid under the rules of the Civil Code of Ukraine (Article 103). The Supreme Court of Ukraine applies the principles of freedom and binding force of contract to it and construes doubts in favor of validity — rulings of 19 March 2025 in case No. 686/30682/23 and 5 March 2025 in case No. 362/1998/23.
What a Prenuptial Agreement Is and Why Sign One
A prenuptial agreement is an arrangement between spouses, or a couple about to marry, concerning their property rights and obligations. The right to enter into it is set out in Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine, and the general possibility of governing family relations by agreement — in para. 2, Article 7 of the Family Code of Ukraine. In everyday usage this document is often called a "marriage contract" — the same instrument, just under the older term from the Code on Marriage and Family; the current Family Code of Ukraine uses the term "prenuptial agreement" (or "marriage agreement").
Without an agreement, the default regime applies: everything acquired during the marriage is the spouses' joint marital property regardless of whose name it is registered in (Article 60 of the Family Code of Ukraine), and shares on division are presumed equal (para. 1, Article 70 of the Family Code of Ukraine). An agreement lets the couple depart from this rule: treat property acquired during the marriage as the personal property of whichever spouse it is registered to, set a different division formula, or establish a regime for specific assets (Article 97 of the Family Code of Ukraine). In its ruling of 6 September 2023 in case No. 760/18875/20, the Supreme Court of Ukraine described a prenuptial agreement as a distinct way of regulating spouses' property relations and held that the Civil Code of Ukraine's rules on freedom of contract and on its formation, amendment and termination apply to it.
The practical value of the agreement shows up in three situations: on divorce (the agreement's terms apply instead of a property-division claim — Supreme Court ruling of 4 December 2024 in case No. 754/12379/20); on inheritance (the surviving spouse's share is determined by the agreement rather than by the presumption of joint ownership); and against claims from one spouse's creditors (property the agreement designates as the other spouse's personal property is not available for enforcement — Supreme Court ruling of 24 February 2022 in case No. 216/2153/21).
Who Can Sign a Prenuptial Agreement, and When
Only two categories of people may be parties to the agreement: those who have filed a marriage registration application with the civil registry office, and spouses already in a registered marriage (para. 1, Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine). People cohabiting as a family without a registered marriage cannot enter into a prenuptial agreement — their property relations are governed by Article 74 of the Family Code of Ukraine and ordinary civil-law contracts. If one party is a minor, the notarized written consent of their parents or guardian is required (para. 2, Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The agreement must be signed personally: a spouse's property relations are closely tied to the individual, so it cannot be signed through a representative acting under a power of attorney (para. 2, Article 238 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).
Prenuptial Agreement Before the Marriage Is Registered
Couples sign the agreement after filing their application with the civil registry office, but it only takes effect on the day the marriage is registered (para. 1, Article 95 of the Family Code of Ukraine). If the marriage is not registered, the agreement has no legal effect. This option is useful for locking in the status of premarital property, contributions to jointly held real estate, or one partner's business in advance: the terms are negotiated before any jointly acquired assets exist to complicate matters.
Prenuptial Agreement During the Marriage
Spouses may sign an agreement at any point during the marriage, and it takes effect on the date of notarization (para. 2, Article 95 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The parties themselves decide whether the agreement applies to property acquired before it was signed. If the agreement is silent on this, the courts treat it as applying only going forward: in its ruling of 19 March 2025 in case No. 686/30682/23, the Supreme Court of Ukraine held that an apartment purchased before the agreement was signed remained joint marital property, since the agreement's text contained no terms changing the status of previously acquired property. There is a limit here, discussed further below: an agreement cannot change the status of already-acquired real estate in favor of one spouse (para. 5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine).
What Can Be Included in a Prenuptial Agreement
The subject matter of the agreement is the spouses' property relations (para. 1, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The Code separately names three groups of terms: the property regime (Article 97), the arrangement for using housing (Article 98), and the right to support (Article 99). This list is not exhaustive: the parties may include other property terms as long as they do not contradict the law (para. 3, Article 97 of the Family Code of Ukraine). In its ruling of 19 March 2025 in case No. 686/30682/23, the Supreme Court of Ukraine confirmed that spouses may fully exclude the future creation of joint property.
Property Regime and Real Estate
The most common term disapplies Article 60 of the Family Code of Ukraine to property acquired during the marriage: everything registered in one spouse's name becomes that spouse's personal property. In its ruling of 5 March 2025 in case No. 362/1998/23, the Supreme Court of Ukraine applied such a term even to property whose title was registered after the divorce, provided it was acquired during the marriage. The agreement can also do the opposite — designate as joint property something that would otherwise be personal (a premarital apartment, for example), set unequal shares on division, or set the terms of using housing and an obligation to vacate it after the divorce (Article 98 of the Family Code of Ukraine).
Wording covering real estate must be precise. The agreement's terms apply only to the specific assets and regimes it names: in its ruling of 8 June 2022 in case No. 751/8408/20, the Supreme Court of Ukraine held that funds kept in a bank safe-deposit box were joint property, because the agreement referred to bank deposits, and a safe-deposit box is a different form of storage. Terms also do not apply retroactively without an express clause to that effect.
Business, Corporate Rights and Income
A share in a company's charter capital acquired during the marriage is, as a general rule, joint marital property, and dividends and profit are joint income (Article 61 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The agreement can assign corporate rights to whichever spouse holds them, set the status of income from a business, investments or royalties, and provide that the other spouse's share is paid out as monetary compensation rather than allocated in kind. Terms like these protect a business from being frozen by a division dispute and from a former spouse becoming a member of the company.
Loans, Debts and Financial Obligations
By law, a loan taken out by one spouse in the family's interest creates an obligation for both (Article 65 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The agreement can provide that obligations registered to one spouse are that spouse's personal debt, and that property purchased on credit belongs to whichever spouse is repaying it. Terms about debts operate between the spouses and do not change the relationship with the bank, which remains the creditor under the loan agreement.
An agreement signed after a debt has already arisen can be challenged by the creditor as fraudulent. In its ruling of 6 September 2023 in case No. 755/3563/21, the Supreme Court of Ukraine declared void a prenuptial agreement signed after the loan's repayment date fell due, under which all property passed to the debtor's wife — as an agreement entered into to the detriment of the creditor (Articles 3 and 13 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). A similar conclusion was reached in the ruling of 16 September 2022 in case No. 522/23757/17. Whether a private enforcement officer may independently challenge such transactions on behalf of a creditor is currently before the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court (the case was referred to it by a Civil Cassation Court ruling of 1 July 2026 in case No. 522/19498/23) — pending a final ruling, this question remains open.
Family Expenses and Spousal Support
The agreement may set out how the spouses contribute to family expenses (Article 97 of the Family Code of Ukraine), impose an obligation to support one spouse regardless of that spouse's incapacity or need for assistance, and provide for the termination of the right to support in exchange for monetary compensation (Article 99 of the Family Code of Ukraine). In its ruling of 17 June 2020 in case No. 761/46925/18, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld a wife's claim for compensation equivalent to USD 225,000 that the agreement provided for if the marriage ended after three years — treating it precisely as a term terminating the right to support under para. 3, Article 99 of the Family Code of Ukraine. Where support is set out in the agreement, it is enforced through a notary's writ of execution (para. 2, Article 99 of the Family Code of Ukraine).
Property Terms Concerning Children
A prenuptial agreement may set out the spouses' property rights and obligations as parents (para. 2, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine): who pays for a child's education, medical care and housing, and how those costs are shared after a divorce. The agreement cannot reduce the scope of a child's rights under the Code (para. 4, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine), so a clause setting child support below the statutory minimum, or waiving it, is void. Child support itself is arranged under a separate agreement pursuant to Article 189 of the Family Code of Ukraine, not the prenuptial agreement.
What Cannot Be Included in a Prenuptial Agreement
The law sets four direct prohibitions. The agreement cannot govern the spouses' personal relationship or their relationship with children (para. 3, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine) — terms about fidelity, household duties, contact arrangements with a child, or a child's place of residence have no legal effect. It cannot reduce a child's rights (para. 4, Article 93). It cannot place either spouse in an extremely disadvantageous financial position (para. 4, Article 93). And it cannot transfer ownership of real estate or other property subject to state registration to either spouse (para. 5, Article 93).
"Extremely disadvantageous financial position" is a fact-specific standard, and the burden of proving it lies with the party invoking it (para. 3, Article 12 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine). The mere fact that property is divided unevenly is not, by itself, grounds for invalidity: in its ruling of 10 May 2022 in case No. 755/5802/20, the Supreme Court of Ukraine dismissed a claim because the claimant had not proven the terms were disadvantageous. It is different where the agreement effectively transfers to one spouse everything acquired during the marriage before the agreement was signed: in its ruling of 14 August 2024 in case No. 522/3974/20, the Supreme Court of Ukraine declared such a clause void, noting that an agreement may set a particular division formula but may not impose an unconditional transfer of all property to one spouse.
The prohibition in para. 5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine specifically concerns the transfer of title to real estate or vehicles from one spouse to the other. A term stating that assets acquired in the future belong to whichever spouse they are registered to does not violate this prohibition — as decided in case No. 755/5802/20. If an already-owned apartment or car needs to be re-titled, that is done through a separate gift or sale agreement, or a property-division agreement between the spouses (Article 69 of the Family Code of Ukraine).
How to Sign a Prenuptial Agreement
The process consists of five sequential steps. From premarital preparation and notarization through to signing, it usually takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how many assets need to be described and how many drafts the agreement goes through.
1. Consultation and Defining the Agreement's Goals
Work begins with defining exactly what the agreement should protect: premarital real estate, a business, an inheritance that the other spouse's creditors should not be able to reach, or a support arrangement. The consultation establishes the parties' status (engaged couple or spouses), whether there are children, existing loans, and property registered to third parties. This determines whether a prenuptial agreement alone is enough, or whether it needs to be supplemented with a property-division agreement, a gift agreement, or a child-support agreement.
2. Reviewing Assets, Business Interests, Loans and Other Holdings
A list of each party's assets and liabilities is compiled together with supporting documents: extracts from the State Register of Property Rights, extracts from the Unified State Register regarding corporate rights, loan agreements, and bank account or deposit statements. This step also checks whether creditor claims could arise before the agreement is signed — taking into account the fraudulent-transaction case law in case Nos. 755/3563/21 and 522/23757/17. For property acquired before the agreement, we assess whether separate re-titling is needed in view of para. 5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine.
3. Drafting the Prenuptial Agreement
The draft is built around a specific list of assets. Each term is worded so it can be performed without going to court: courts construe an agreement in favor of its validity and enforceability (the favor contractus principle — Supreme Court ruling of 5 March 2025 in case No. 362/1998/23), but they do not fill gaps the parties left open. The draft separately sets out when the agreement takes effect (Article 95 of the Family Code of Ukraine), its term or the term of specific provisions (Article 96 of the Family Code of Ukraine), whether it covers previously acquired property, and what happens on divorce or on the death of a spouse.
4. Negotiating Terms With the Other Party
The draft is sent to the other party or their lawyer. Comments on individual clauses are recorded in writing, and alternative wording is prepared where needed. At this stage the balance of the agreement's terms is checked: an agreement that leaves one spouse with effectively all of the property risks being declared void under para. 4, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine — so the other party's comments are taken into account not only to reach agreement, but to make the agreement hold up in court.
5. Notarization
The agreement must be in writing and notarized (Article 94 of the Family Code of Ukraine). Without notarization it is void (para. 1, Article 220 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). Both parties attend the notary in person, sign the agreement, and each receives a copy; if the agreement changes the regime for property already owned, the notary records the relevant details. Any state or private notary in Ukraine may notarize the agreement, regardless of where the parties live.
What Documents Are Needed to Sign a Prenuptial Agreement
The notary is provided with both parties' passports and taxpayer identification numbers, a marriage certificate (for spouses) or confirmation that a marriage registration application has been filed with the civil registry office (for an engaged couple). If the agreement sets a regime for specific property, supporting title documents are also required: extracts from the register of property rights, vehicle registration certificates, a company charter and an extract from the Unified State Register for corporate rights, and loan agreements. For a foreign national, a passport with a notarized translation is required; for a minor party, notarized parental or guardian consent (para. 2, Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The exact list depends on the agreement's content and is confirmed with the notary before the appointment.
When a Prenuptial Agreement Takes Effect and How Long It Lasts
An engaged couple's agreement takes effect on the day the marriage is registered; a married couple's agreement takes effect on the day of notarization (Article 95 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The parties may set an overall term for the agreement, as well as a term for specific rights and obligations (para. 1, Article 96 of the Family Code of Ukraine), and may specify which terms continue to apply after the marriage ends (para. 2, Article 96 of the Family Code of Ukraine). If no term is set, the agreement remains in force throughout the marriage, and terms governing the consequences of divorce and property acquired during the marriage continue to apply after the marriage ends — this is exactly how the Supreme Court of Ukraine applied an agreement in its ruling of 5 March 2025 in case No. 362/1998/23, extending it to property registered after the divorce.
How to Amend or Terminate a Prenuptial Agreement
The law distinguishes three different actions that are often conflated in practice. The first is amendment: by mutual consent, it is done through a notarized agreement (paras. 1–2, Article 100 of the Family Code of Ukraine); a unilateral amendment is not permitted, but a court may amend the agreement at one spouse's request if this is required by that spouse's interests, or by the material interests of children or incapacitated adult children (para. 3, Article 100 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The second is waiver of the agreement: this requires both parties' consent, and the rights and obligations end either on the date a waiver notice is filed with a notary or on the date the agreement was signed — whichever the parties choose (Article 101 of the Family Code of Ukraine).
The third is termination by a court. At one spouse's request, a court may terminate the agreement on material grounds, in particular where performance has become impossible (Article 102 of the Family Code of Ukraine). The law does not set out an exhaustive list of such grounds; typical examples include the loss of property covered by the agreement, or a material change in financial circumstances that makes performing the terms impossible. The divorce itself is not, on its own, a ground for terminating the agreement — its terms on the consequences of divorce are precisely designed for that moment. In all three scenarios, the result is formalized in the same notarial form as the original agreement, or by a court decision.
When a Prenuptial Agreement Can Be Declared Invalid
An agreement is declared invalid by a court on the grounds set out in the Civil Code of Ukraine (Article 103 of the Family Code of Ukraine). These are the general grounds for invalidating a transaction: contradiction with the law or public morals (Articles 203 and 215 of the Civil Code of Ukraine); entering into the agreement under the influence of mistake, fraud, duress or a grave circumstance (Articles 229–233 of the Civil Code of Ukraine); and failure to notarize (Article 220 of the Civil Code of Ukraine). Special grounds follow from Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine: reducing a child's rights, an extremely disadvantageous position, or transferring real estate. An agreement can be declared invalid in whole or only as to specific clauses — in case No. 522/3974/20, the court declared invalid only the clause transferring previously acquired property, leaving the rest of the agreement in force.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine starts from the presumption that a transaction is lawful (Article 204 of the Civil Code of Ukraine): until a court declares an agreement invalid, it remains in force, and courts apply its terms even without a separate claim for interpretation (rulings of 6 September 2023 in case No. 760/18875/20 and 5 March 2025 in case No. 362/1998/23). A dispute claiming an agreement is simply "unfair," without proof of a specific ground for invalidity, therefore has little chance of success — as shown by the dismissal in case No. 755/5802/20. A separate category is creditors' fraudulent-transaction claims, discussed above: there, the ground is not the agreement's content as such, but the timing of its signing and the intent to avoid enforcement.
How DISPUTES Can Help
The outcome in this area depends on the quality of the agreement's drafting and whether it will withstand court scrutiny years later. A template agreement typically fails to describe specific assets, contains terms that violate paras. 4–5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine, or is silent on when it takes effect and whether it covers previously acquired property — and these are exactly the gaps that give rise to the disputes described in this article. Our approach is built to avoid leaving those gaps.
Reviewing Risks and the Client's Interests
Work begins by identifying what the client needs protected, and from whom — the other spouse on divorce, that spouse's creditors, or heirs. We check the parties' status under Article 92 of the Family Code of Ukraine, any debts that could give a creditor grounds for a fraudulent-transaction claim, and any property that may need separate re-titling in view of para. 5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine. A written assessment of what the agreement can and cannot achieve in a given situation is provided before the legal services agreement is signed.
- defining the agreement's objectives and the list of assets it covers;
- checking planned terms against the prohibitions in Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine;
- assessing the risk of a creditor challenge based on the case law in Nos. 755/3563/21 and 522/23757/17;
- advising on related agreements: property division, a gift agreement, or a child-support agreement.
Drafting a Tailored Agreement
The draft is built around a specific list of real estate, corporate rights, accounts and loans. Each term is worded to be enforceable without going to court: it identifies the asset, the moment the regime takes effect, and what happens on divorce or on a spouse's death. The draft separately sets out when the agreement takes effect (Article 95 of the Family Code of Ukraine), the term of its provisions (Article 96 of the Family Code of Ukraine), whether it covers property acquired before signing, and the terms of support and compensation (Article 99 of the Family Code of Ukraine). Where there is a foreign element, we also address the choice of law governing the agreement (Article 59 of the Law of Ukraine "On Private International Law").
Reviewing an Agreement Proposed by the Other Party
Where the other party's lawyer has prepared the draft, we review it for two categories of risk. The first is terms that place the client in an extremely disadvantageous position or disguise a transfer of property as a mere change of regime. The second is terms that favor the client but are unstable: if a court declares them invalid under paras. 4–5, Article 93 of the Family Code of Ukraine, the client is left without the protection they were counting on. We provide a written assessment listing the clauses that need to change, together with alternative wording.
Negotiating and Agreeing Terms
We correspond with the other party or their representative, prepare wording for disputed clauses, and record agreed changes. The goal of the negotiation is an agreement both parties will perform voluntarily and that will not give grounds for an invalidity claim. The client receives a comparison table and a recommendation on each clause: what can be agreed without losing protection, and what would shift the balance of the agreement.
Preparing Documents and Notarization Support
We assemble the document package for the agreement's specific content, coordinate the text with the notary in advance so that notarization can be completed in a single appointment, and attend the signing if needed. Work is carried out under a legal services agreement and a bar association warrant. For clients based abroad, the consultation, document review, and drafting and negotiation of the agreement are all handled remotely; signing at the notary requires both parties' personal presence (para. 2, Article 238 of the Civil Code of Ukraine), so the appointment is scheduled around a planned visit, or we look into notarization at a Ukrainian consulate. After signing, we continue to advise on amendments, a waiver under Article 101 of the Family Code of Ukraine, and court disputes over termination or invalidity.
