Seven-Day Rule
California's statutory requirement that at least seven calendar days pass between presenting the final prenup and signing it. Agreements signed inside the window are automatically unenforceable.
Cal. Fam. Code §1615(c)(2) requires at least seven calendar days between the date the final agreement is first presented to the unrepresented party and the date they sign it. The rule is bright-line: a prenup signed inside the window is unenforceable, with no balancing test and no exceptions for sophistication or other procedural protections.
The rule was enacted in 2002 in direct response to In re Marriage of Bonds, where the California Supreme Court had upheld a same-day-before-wedding signing. California is the only state with a hard statutory waiting period; other states treat short timelines as evidence of duress without bright-line consequences.
Related terms
- In re Marriage of Bonds — The 2000 California Supreme Court case upholding Barry Bonds's prenup. The public outcry prompted California to enact §1615(c), the modern 7-day rule and independent-counsel requirement.
- Voluntariness — The requirement that both spouses signed the prenup of their own free will, without fraud, duress, coercion, or undue influence.
- Duress — Improper pressure that overcomes a person's free will, rendering their consent legally ineffective. A common ground for invalidating prenups.
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