Why you need a checklist
Planning a wedding comes with a million decisions. A prenup (also called a marriage contract in many parts of Canada) is one of the few that can save you a lot of stress later by getting aligned on finances now.
This guide is a practical, Canadian-focused checklist you can use to prep your prenup, whether you're working with lawyers, starting with a template, or using an online tool to generate a first draft.
Quick note: This is general information, not legal advice. Requirements and outcomes can vary by province and by your situation.
By the end of this checklist, you'll have:
- A clear timeline for when to start (so you don't end up signing last-minute)
- A complete list of documents and info to gather
- The key questions to decide as a couple
- A quick overview of province-specific legal realities (Ontario, BC, Alberta, Quebec)
- Common mistakes that can make an agreement easier to challenge later
Step 1: Pick a realistic timeline
A prenup often takes longer than people expect because it's not just drafting. It includes financial disclosure, negotiation and revisions, time for each person to review and reflect, and in many cases, independent legal advice.
A practical target: Start at least 2 to 3 months before the wedding. Earlier if you have a business, real estate, investments, or complex family situations.
Sample timeline
8-12+ weeks out: Start conversations and gather financial info
6-8 weeks out: Create a first draft (lawyer-drafted or template-based) and revise together
4-6 weeks out: Each partner gets legal advice and requests revisions
2-4 weeks out: Finalize, sign, and store safely
After marriage: Revisit periodically if major life changes happen (kids, home purchase, business growth, relocation)
Step 2: Gather your "full disclosure" package
A lot of prenup problems start with incomplete financial disclosure. Courts can set aside a domestic contract in some circumstances, including where there wasn't proper disclosure or understanding. In Ontario, for example, a court may set aside a domestic contract if a party failed to disclose significant assets or debts.
Use this as a practical "prep package" checklist.
Identity and basics
- Legal names (as they appear on ID)
- Current address(es)
- Intended wedding date (and where you'll be living after)
- Prior marriages or domestic contracts (if applicable)
Income and employment
- Recent pay stubs
- Last 2 years of notices of assessment / tax returns
- Employment contract or compensation details (especially if bonuses, commissions, equity)
Real estate (owned or expected)
- Property addresses
- Current market value estimate (recent appraisal, realtor estimate, or comparable sales)
- Mortgage statements
- Title/ownership details (who owns what, and how)
- Down payment source details (if relevant)
Bank accounts and cash
- Chequing/savings account balances (statements)
- Joint accounts (if any)
- Cash management accounts
Investments
- TFSA, RRSP, FHSA, non-registered brokerage statements
- Stock options, RSUs, or other equity compensation details
- Crypto holdings (if any), with wallet/account statements where possible
Debts and liabilities
- Credit card balances
- Student loans
- Lines of credit
- Personal loans
- Any significant "informal" debts (family loans, repayment expectations)
Business interests (if any)
- Ownership structure (shares, partnership, sole prop)
- Any shareholder agreements
- Basic financials (recent statements)
- Valuation documents (if you have them)
Pensions and benefits
- Pension statements
- Employer benefit details
Expected inheritance or family gifts (optional but useful)
You generally can't fully control every future outcome with a prenup, but it's still useful to document:
- Any anticipated inheritance
- Any major expected gifts from family (down payment help, etc.)
- Whether the intention is to keep gifts/inheritance separate or shared
Step 3: Decide what your prenup should actually do
This is where people start having real conversations. Use these prompts as a couple.
1) What are we protecting and why?
Common reasons include:
- One person owns real estate already
- One person has significantly more savings or investments
- One person owns a business (or expects to)
- One person has significant debt
- One or both have children from a prior relationship
- You just want clarity and fewer unknowns
2) How should we treat property we bring into the marriage?
Decide how you want to handle:
- The original value at marriage
- Any increases in value over time
- What happens if you sell and buy a new place together
3) What happens with the home we live in?
This is often the biggest emotional and financial topic. Your provincial rules matter here. In Ontario, the matrimonial home has special rules even if one person owned it before marriage. Make sure you understand how your province treats the family home.
4) How do we want to handle debts?
For example:
- Pre-marriage debts stay separate
- New debts require mutual consent
- Clear rules for joint credit cards or lines of credit
5) Spousal support: do we want rules or guardrails?
Some couples agree to:
- No spousal support (a waiver)
- A cap or time limit
- A formula (for example tied to years married)
- A review trigger (kids, career change, relocation)
This is an area where fairness and the process matter a lot, and legal advice is usually important.
6) What about children?
You generally can't "lock in" child outcomes the way you can property. For example, Ontario's Family Law Act says the court may disregard domestic contract provisions about parenting matters if it's in a child's best interests. Ontario also allows a court to disregard child support provisions if they're unreasonable in light of the child support guidelines.
Practical approach: You can still discuss values and intentions (education savings, how expenses might be handled), but understand a court may prioritize applicable law and a child's needs.
7) Do we want "life happens" update rules?
Strong prenups often include an "update rhythm":
- Review every 3-5 years
- Review after major events (buying a home, kids, a big increase in income, starting a business)
Step 4: Make it enforceable
While the specifics vary by province, enforceability usually comes down to:
- Proper formality: Signed correctly
- Real financial disclosure: No hiding assets
- Both parties understanding what they signed: No "I didn't know what I was agreeing to"
- No coercion or last-minute pressure: Sign months ahead, not days before
Formalities: the agreement has to be properly signed
In Ontario, a domestic contract is generally unenforceable unless it's in writing, signed, and witnessed. BC has similar concepts for property division agreements (written agreement with each signature witnessed).
Disclosure and understanding
In Ontario, a court may set aside a domestic contract if there was significant non-disclosure, lack of understanding, or other contract-law issues. BC's Family Law Act also lists circumstances such as significant non-disclosure, improper advantage, or lack of understanding as reasons a court may set aside a property division agreement, and it also includes a "significantly unfair" standard.
Independent legal advice
Not every province phrases this the same way in legislation, but separate legal advice is one of the most common ways couples reduce risk.
Alberta is a standout here: For a property agreement to be enforceable under the Family Property Act, each party must provide a written acknowledgment made before a lawyer, and that lawyer must be different from the other party's lawyer.
Step 5: Province-specific notes
Ontario (often called a marriage contract)
- A domestic contract generally needs to be in writing, signed, and witnessed
- Courts can set aside contracts in specific circumstances like significant non-disclosure or lack of understanding
- The matrimonial home has special rules: even if you owned it before marriage, your spouse gets rights to it
British Columbia
- The BC Family Law Act recognizes written, witnessed agreements about property division
- Courts may set them aside for significant non-disclosure and "significant unfairness"
- BC's statute also explicitly references agreements about companion animals (pets), which can be useful if that's important to you
Alberta
- Alberta allows spouses or adult interdependent partners to make written agreements about property
- Mandatory ILA: Each person must have their own lawyer sign an Acknowledgment Certificate
- More expensive upfront, but harder to challenge later
Quebec
- Quebec is a civil law system, and prenups are typically handled as a marriage contract
- Notarization is required - you can't just sign and witness it yourself
- Quebec uses "matrimonial regimes" (preset packages of property rules)
- The "family patrimony" rules mandate equal splitting of certain assets regardless of your contract
Step 6: Common prenup mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Mistake 1: Starting too late
If one person feels pressured because the wedding is days away, it increases conflict and risk.
Fix: Start early. Treat it like a planning project, not a fire drill.
Mistake 2: "Close enough" financial disclosure
Leaving out assets or debts (even unintentionally) can create major issues later. Ontario explicitly lists significant non-disclosure as a basis to set aside a domestic contract. BC similarly lists significant non-disclosure as a reason a court may set aside property division agreements.
Fix: Over-share. Use statements, not memory.
Mistake 3: One-sided terms without safeguards
Even if both people sign, extreme unfairness can become a problem, especially if the process wasn't clean. BC's statute includes a "significantly unfair" basis to set aside certain agreements.
Fix: Focus on clarity and mutual protection, not "winning."
Mistake 4: Skipping legal advice where it matters
In Alberta, enforceability has formal requirements tied to acknowledgements before separate lawyers. Even elsewhere, not having ILA creates an easy challenge point.
Fix: Budget for legal advice as part of the prenup process.
Frequently asked questions
Do we both need our own lawyer?
Often yes, and in some provinces it's baked into enforceability requirements. Alberta's requirement for acknowledgements before separate lawyers is a clear example. Even where it's not strictly required by statute, separate advice can help show each person understood what they signed.
Can we include child custody or child support terms?
You can discuss intentions, but child-related terms may not be binding the way property terms are. Ontario specifically allows courts to disregard domestic contract provisions about parenting matters if it's in the child's best interests. Courts also use child support guidelines to help determine support.
What's the single biggest thing we can do to make this smoother?
Share your full financial picture early, and put everything on the table before you draft.
Next step: Turn your checklist into a first draft
Once you've gathered your documents and talked through the big decisions, you're in a great place to generate a first draft and begin refining it.
If you want to create a customized prenup template quickly, use Prenuply to generate a draft in about 15 minutes, then have it reviewed for your province and your situation. It's faster and cheaper than starting from scratch with a lawyer, but you still get proper legal review.