Trusted Tampa prenup attorneys with nearly 20 years of experience.
If you’re a corporate executive heading into marriage, your compensation structure looks nothing like a standard W-2. Restricted stock units, performance bonuses, deferred compensation, and equity grants all complicate what’s marital and what’s separate. A standard template prenup won’t capture any of it. At The McKinney Law Group Family & Divorce Lawyers, our Tampa, FL prenup lawyer drafts agreements built around the realities of executive compensation. Schedule a consultation to talk through your situation.
What an Executive Prenup Should Address
The challenge with executive compensation is timing. Stock options may be granted before marriage but vest years later. A signing bonus paid this year might be subject to clawback if you leave the company within three. Deferred compensation sits in an account untouched until retirement. Without a prenup, Florida courts have to sort out what portion of these assets is marital, and the analysis gets complicated fast.
A well drafted executive prenup defines how each category gets treated. Vested versus unvested equity. Bonuses tied to pre-marriage performance versus post-marriage work. Carried interest, profits interests, and partnership distributions. The agreement should also account for what happens when compensation is restructured, the company is acquired, or you change employers.
Couples with substantial wealth often combine an executive prenup with elements addressed in high asset prenups. The growing use of these agreements among professionals is reflected in current prenup statistics, and the cost of an executive prenup reflects the additional drafting work involved. LGBTQ executives may also want to review LGBTQ prenups for estate planning considerations that overlap with executive concerns.
Disclosure and Enforceability
Florida law requires fair and reasonable financial disclosure for a prenup to hold up. For executives, that means more than listing a salary. Plan documents, vesting schedules, grant agreements, and account statements all become part of the disclosure record. Skipping this step is one of the fastest ways to lose an agreement in court. A Tampa prenuptial agreement tailored for an executive client builds disclosure into the process from the beginning.
Why Choose The McKinney Law Group Family & Divorce Lawyers
Our founder, Damien McKinney, has handled prenuptial agreements in Florida since 2006. He’s been named a Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2012 and received the Super Lawyers Distinction of Excellence in 2016, an honor reserved for the top 5% of Florida attorneys. He serves on the Florida Bar Family Law Section. When you hire our Tampa prenuptial agreement lawyer, you work directly with an attorney who understands what executive compensation actually looks like on paper.
Florida Legal Resources
Prenuptial agreements in Florida are governed by Section 61.079 of the Florida Statutes, the Florida Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. The statute sets out the disclosure standards, enforceability requirements, and grounds for challenging a prenup. The Florida Bar publishes consumer guides on family law, and Florida Courts Self-Help offers public information on family law procedures. Executives reviewing deferred compensation may also want to consult SEC guidance on equity compensation disclosures for context on how their grants are reported.
Schedule a Consultation
Your compensation took years to build. The agreement protecting it should reflect that. Our Tampa, FL prenuptial agreement lawyer will review your situation and explain your options. Contact us today.