A prenuptial agreement is a notarised agreement between people who are planning to marry or are already married. In Russian law it is used to set rules for spouses’ property and financial obligations during marriage and, where stated, after divorce. It is a planning tool, not a universal solution for every family question.
What can a prenuptial agreement regulate?
Article 42 of the Family Code allows spouses to replace the default regime of joint property with joint, shared or separate ownership arrangements. The agreement may concern current or future assets and can describe how spouses participate in income, bear family expenses, support one another, or divide specified property if the marriage ends.
Property rules
Who owns a particular asset, a share in it, or property acquired in the future.
Financial arrangements
Agreed participation in income, expenses and permitted maintenance obligations.
Divorce planning
Which assets will be transferred to each spouse if the marriage is dissolved.
What cannot be included?
The agreement cannot regulate personal non-property relations between spouses, parental rights and duties towards children, or restrict either spouse’s legal capacity or right to go to court. It also cannot deprive a needy disabled spouse of statutory maintenance or place a spouse in an extremely unfavourable position. Those limits are as important as the property clauses themselves.
When does it take effect?
The agreement must be made in writing and notarised. A contract signed before the marriage takes effect only after the marriage is registered. A contract signed by spouses during marriage takes effect in accordance with the applicable legal rules after notarisation.
Can the agreement be changed or terminated?
Spouses may change or terminate it by mutual agreement in the same form. A unilateral refusal is not permitted. A court may change or terminate the agreement on the statutory contractual grounds. Its effect normally ends when the marriage ends, except for obligations expressly intended to continue afterwards.
Legal basis
This overview reflects Articles 40–43 of the Russian Family Code as in force in 2026. The correct wording and the consequences for a specific property situation should be verified before a transaction or a dispute.