Postnuptial Agreement in Georgia: How Courts Review It and What Makes It Hold Up

By Aaron Thomas, Esq. · Updated October 27, 2026

Georgia recognizes postnuptial agreements and reviews them under the same Scherer test it applies to prenups. Because spouses may rely on each other’s representations, a postnup obtained through misleading statements is vulnerable, and the spouse who wants to enforce it carries the burden of proof.

Key Takeaways

• Georgia recognizes postnuptial agreements and evaluates them under the same three-part test it applies to prenups, from Scherer v. Scherer.
• Scherer asks three things: whether there was fraud, duress, mistake, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure; whether the agreement is unconscionable; and whether enforcing it would be unfair or unreasonable given changed circumstances.
• Spouses are in a confidential relationship under Georgia law, so a spouse who signed a postnup was entitled to rely on the other spouse’s representations. That can make fraud and misrepresentation claims easier to prove against a postnup than against a prenup.
• The burden of proof sits with the spouse seeking to enforce the agreement, so the record of disclosure and process is that spouse’s evidence.
• Independent counsel is not required but strengthens the agreement. Georgia’s statute sets signing formalities for prenups but does not spell out separate ones for postnups, so the safest course is to sign a postnup with the same formalities.

Does Georgia Recognize a Postnuptial Agreement?

Yes. Georgia courts recognize postnuptial agreements, which define what belongs to each spouse and what happens to assets and debts if the marriage ends. Georgia’s statutes mention postnuptial settlements, but they do not set the test for whether one will be enforced. That test comes from case law, anchored by Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635, 292 S.E.2d 662 (1982), and the Georgia Supreme Court has applied it to agreements signed during the marriage.

A postnup can be signed at any point in a marriage. Couples sign them after an unfinished prenup, when a business grows, when money has become a recurring source of conflict, or simply to put in writing what they have always assumed. Georgia sets no deadline. It sets a high bar for how the agreement is made.

Same Test, Different Relationship

Georgia does not use a separate or stricter test for postnups. The Georgia Supreme Court has said it sees no reason an agreement signed during the marriage should stand on a different footing from a prenup, and it applies the same Scherer factors to both (Curry v. Curry, 260 Ga. 302 (1990); Spurlin v. Spurlin, 289 Ga. 818 (2011); Murray v. Murray, 299 Ga. 703 (2016)).

What changes after the wedding is the relationship between the parties. Georgia law treats spouses as being in a confidential relationship, which entitles each to place trust and confidence in the other. Couples who are only engaged are not treated that way. Before the wedding, each party is expected to verify what the other says (Mallen v. Mallen, 280 Ga. 43 (2005)).

That difference matters most when a spouse says they were misled. In Murray, a husband persuaded his wife to sign a postnup by promising to tear it up as soon as she signed. He kept it instead and moved to enforce it when she filed for divorce. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s refusal to enforce the agreement, holding that because of the confidential relationship between spouses, the wife was entitled to trust his word, and that even slight evidence was enough to establish fraud.

The Three Scherer Factors, in Plain English

Scherer sets out three factors, and they work as a checklist of what a court examines. The first is the process. Was there fraud, duress, mistake, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure? The second is the terms. Is the agreement unconscionable? The third looks forward. Would enforcing the agreement now be unfair or unreasonable given circumstances that have changed since it was signed?

Blige v. Blige, 283 Ga. 65 (2008), restated the test and reinforced a point that matters for every Georgia agreement: nondisclosure of material assets can defeat enforcement. Each party has an affirmative duty to make a full and fair disclosure of their finances before signing. A spouse who held back something significant gives the other spouse the strongest argument available.

The Burden Sits With the Spouse Who Wants to Enforce

In Georgia, the spouse seeking to enforce the agreement has to show it satisfies the Scherer framework. In Blige, for example, the spouse relying on the agreement bore the burden of proving he had made a full and fair disclosure. If the agreement is ever tested, the spouse relying on it is the one who has to prove it was made properly.

That makes the paper trail the case. Disclosure schedules with documents behind them, evidence that each spouse had time to read the agreement, proof that each had their own attorney, and a signing nobody was pressured into are what the enforcing spouse will point to. An agreement built without that record has nothing to point to.

Building a Georgia Postnup That Holds Up

The third Scherer factor deserves attention at the drafting stage. Because a court can ask later whether enforcement would be unfair given changed circumstances, the terms need to be reasonable when signed and still reasonable after children, career changes, and business growth. Agreements that anticipate foreseeable changes and avoid leaving either spouse without reasonable means tend to hold up best.

Process matters as much as terms. Each spouse should give full, current financial disclosure, backed by documents. Each should have their own attorney, which Georgia does not require but which strengthens the agreement, and enough time to read, ask questions, and decide. Nobody should be signing under an ultimatum, and nothing said at the signing should contradict what the agreement says. Murray shows how a side promise between spouses can undo an otherwise valid document.

Signing formalities deserve the same care. Since July 1, 2018, Georgia law has required a prenup to be in writing, signed by both parties, and attested by at least two witnesses, one of whom is a notary public (O.C.G.A. § 19-3-62). The statute does not spell out separate formalities for postnups, so we sign every Georgia postnup with those same formalities rather than leave the question open.

No agreement can promise how a particular court will rule, and anyone who says otherwise is overselling. What a careful Georgia postnup can do is give the enforcing spouse the strongest possible record.

Getting a Georgia Postnup

The process begins with a consultation to understand your situation and goals, followed by full financial disclosure from both spouses, drafting, a round of review with each spouse’s own counsel, and signing when you are both ready. Postnups at Prenups.com are a fixed fee with no hourly billing, and the flat-fee pricing is published in full. For couples who are still before the wedding, Georgia’s prenup requirements are covered separately, as is what a Georgia prenup costs.

Want a Georgia postnup on a flat fee? Every Georgia agreement is prepared by our attorneys, including a Georgia-licensed attorney as counsel of record, from the first draft through signing. You can schedule a consultation to talk through whether a postnup fits your situation. For the broader picture of how postnups work, see the full guide to postnups.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635, 292 S.E.2d 662 (1982)
• Curry v. Curry, 260 Ga. 302, 392 S.E.2d 879 (1990)
• Mallen v. Mallen, 280 Ga. 43, 622 S.E.2d 812 (2005)
• Blige v. Blige, 283 Ga. 65, 656 S.E.2d 822 (2008)
• Spurlin v. Spurlin, 289 Ga. 818, 716 S.E.2d 209 (2011)
• Murray v. Murray, 299 Ga. 703, 791 S.E.2d 816 (2016)
• O.C.G.A. § 19-3-62