Can cover. How family property is divided on breakdown or death; how exempt property is treated - a gift, an inheritance, or property one of you owned beforehand; responsibility for debts; a business interest owned by one spouse; and spousal support terms, which stay open to review.
Prenuptial Agreements in Alberta
photo — couple reviewing a document (4:3)
A prenuptial agreement in Alberta is a written contract signed before marriage that sets how a couple's property is divided if the marriage ends, under the Family Property Act (Alberta).
What a Prenuptial Agreement Is in Alberta
It is one of the family agreements Alberta couples sign before marriage. A prenuptial agreement lawyer in Calgary drafts or reviews the document so it meets the Act's requirements.
Also called: marriage agreement, prenup.
The Family Property Act (Alberta) governs agreements about property between spouses and between adult interdependent partners. The Act came into force on January 1, 2020, when the Matrimonial Property Act was renamed and amended as the Family Property Act.
A prenuptial agreement sets how family property is divided if the marriage ends by separation, divorce or death. Where the agreement is enforceable, those terms apply instead of the division the Family Property Act would otherwise make.
One condition matters at the moment of the wedding itself. An agreement made before marriage is unenforceable after the marriage unless the agreement makes clear that the parties intended it to apply, or to keep applying, after they married.
A prenuptial agreement cannot decide parenting or child support. Parenting is decided under the Family Law Act (Alberta) on the best interests of the child. Child support is calculated under the Federal Child Support Guidelines.
Written Acknowledgements and Formal Requirements
The Family Property Act (Alberta) sets out formal requirements for an agreement of this kind. They are about how the agreement is made, not only about what it says.
It has to be in writing. The Act deals with a subsisting written agreement between the parties that provides for the status, ownership and division of the property it covers. A spoken understanding is not that.
Each party makes a written acknowledgement apart from the other party, acknowledging:
- 1
awareness of the nature and effect of the agreement;
- 2
awareness of possible future claims to property under the Act and an intention to give them up to the extent the agreement requires; and
- 3
entry into the agreement freely and voluntarily, without compulsion by the other party.
Each acknowledgement has to be made before a lawyer, and not the same lawyer as the other person's. The Act requires the acknowledgement to be made before a lawyer other than the one acting for the other party, or other than the lawyer before whom the other party made their own acknowledgement.
The acknowledgements and the circumstances in which the terms were negotiated are separate questions. Raise both with your own lawyer. Financial disclosure sits in that second group. Each person can only weigh what they are giving up if they know what there is, so what was disclosed, and when, is worth raising with your own lawyer.
What a Prenuptial Agreement Can and Cannot Cover
Scope follows the same line the Act draws: spouses may contract with each other about property, and they may not contract about a child's entitlements.
Cannot cover. Parenting time and decision-making responsibility; child support; and any term that is contrary to public policy.
Exempt property is measured from a particular date, and which date that is depends on the couple. The exempt property guide sets out the cases.
Partners who live together without marrying deal with the same property questions in a cohabitation agreement instead.
Cost and Timing
An agreement signed close to a wedding leaves little time for financial disclosure and for each person to get independent legal advice.
What an agreement costs, and how long it takes, depends on how much financial information there is to gather, how complex the property is, whether a lawyer drafts the agreement or reviews one already drafted, and the independent legal advice each person obtains. To ask about your own situation, submit the contact form. Consultations at THEBIL Law are paid consultations. The charge is confirmed with you before the meeting and paid in advance.
How a Prenuptial Agreement Is Usually Put in Place
Drafting or reviewing a prenuptial agreement involves the work below. Ask your lawyer how it applies to your circumstances.
- 1
First meeting and financial disclosure. Each person sets out their situation, and the property, debt and income information the two of them will exchange.
- 2
Drafting or review. One lawyer drafts the agreement, or reviews a draft prepared by the other person’s lawyer.
- 3
Independent legal advice. Each person takes the draft to their own lawyer for advice on its effect. The lawyer who drafts the agreement and the lawyer who gives the other person independent legal advice cannot be the same lawyer.
- 4
Each person’s acknowledgement. Each person makes their written acknowledgement, separately from the other, before their own lawyer.
Every situation is different, so a step may take longer or happen more than once, and nothing about the sequence guarantees that terms are settled by any particular date.
Who You Will Work With
photo — Nne Christiana Udo portrait (4:5)
Nne Christiana Udo is the family lawyer at THEBIL Law and a member of the Law Society of Alberta. She advises clients on Alberta family law and prepares and reviews family agreements, including prenuptial agreements.
THEBIL Law had 87 Google reviews when the count was confirmed on September 21, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cost is answered in the prenup cost in Alberta guide, which sets out what drives it; to ask about your own situation, use the contact form.
A prenuptial agreement does the same thing for each spouse. Where it is enforceable, it applies the couple’s own terms instead of the division the Family Property Act (Alberta) would otherwise make. People commonly use one to protect property one of them owned beforehand, an inheritance or a business interest.
Timing is the difference: a prenuptial agreement is made before the marriage and a postnuptial agreement after it, and each has to meet the same formal requirements under the Family Property Act (Alberta), including the separate written acknowledgement each person makes before their own lawyer. An agreement made before marriage has one extra condition: it must make clear that the parties intended it to apply after they married. Whether either kind of agreement holds can also turn on how it was negotiated, which is a separate question from the formalities. Read about postnuptial agreements after marriage.
Book a Consultation With a Calgary Family Lawyer
Contact THEBIL Law to discuss a prenuptial agreement and the questions you want to address before marriage.
Send a consultation request at any time, or call 403-457-3128 during office hours. After you send the form, the office contacts you to arrange a meeting.