§ 19-3-60.Definition; marriage as valuable consideration
Chapter 3. Marriage Generally · Article 3. Antenuptial Agreements, Marriage Contracts, and Postnuptial Settlements · Last amended 2018 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-3-60
Plain-English Summary
This section opens Article 3, Georgia’s law on antenuptial agreements, marriage contracts and postnuptial settlements. Most people call an antenuptial agreement a prenup. Subsection (a) defines the term for the whole article: a contract entered into before a marriage that determines property rights or contemplates a future settlement to one spouse as to a future resolution of issues. The definition gives three examples — year’s support, spousal support and equitable division of property — and says the list is not exclusive.
Those examples show the reach. Spousal support is alimony; equitable division is how property is divided when a marriage ends in divorce; year’s support is the allowance Georgia law lets a surviving spouse seek from a deceased spouse’s estate. So a prenup can address what happens when a marriage ends by divorce or by death.
Subsection (b) keeps an old rule: marriage is a valuable consideration. A contract generally needs consideration to bind the parties, and the marriage supplies it. A spouse who receives property of the other spouse settled on him or her by marriage contract stands like any other purchaser for value. There’s one limit. By the contract, a spouse shall not incapacitate himself or herself from paying existing just debts. A marriage contract can’t be used to strip away the assets needed to pay creditors the spouse already owes.
The article’s current text was enacted in 2018, and this rule traces back to the Code of 1863. For the formal requirements — a writing, both parties’ signatures, and at least two witnesses, one a notary public — see § 19-3-62.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an antenuptial agreement in Georgia?
It’s what most people call a prenup. Under this section, an antenuptial agreement is a contract entered into before a marriage that determines property rights or contemplates a future settlement to one spouse as to a future resolution of issues. The statute names year’s support, spousal support and equitable division of property as examples, and the list isn’t limited to those.
Can a Georgia prenup cover alimony?
The definition expressly includes contracts that address spousal support, along with year’s support and equitable division of property. Whether a particular alimony provision is enforced in a divorce depends on the agreement and the circumstances, and the court decides that. The formal requirements for a valid prenup appear in § 19-3-62.
Can I use a prenup to protect my assets from my creditors?
Not from debts you already owe. Subsection (b) says that by the contract a spouse shall not incapacitate himself or herself from paying existing just debts. A marriage contract can settle property on a spouse, but it can’t leave you unable to pay creditors you already have. Section 19-3-10 also puts the burden on spouses to show that a transaction between them was fair when creditors attack it as fraudulent.
What does “marriage is a valuable consideration” mean?
It means the marriage itself counts as the value given for promises made in a marriage contract. A contract generally needs consideration to bind the parties, and subsection (b) says marriage supplies it. As a result, a spouse who receives property of the other spouse settled on him or her by marriage contract stands like any other purchaser for value.
Does a prenup only matter in a divorce?
No. The definition includes year’s support, the allowance a surviving spouse can seek from a deceased spouse’s estate, as well as spousal support and equitable division of property. A prenup can address what happens when a marriage ends by death or by divorce. Section 19-3-66 also lets the couple’s offspring and their heirs seek enforcement after a spouse’s death.
Amendment History
Laws 2018, Act 305, § 1-1, eff. July 1, 2018.
Formerly Code 1863, § 1731; Code 1868, § 1772; Code 1873, § 1782; Code 1882, § 1782; Civil Code 1895, § 2487; Civil Code 1910, § 3006; Code 1933, § 53-403.