Aunt Becky Amended Her Prenup 18 Years Later. Can You Do That in California?
For an entire generation, Lori Loughlin will always be Aunt Becky from Full House. And yes, Aunt Becky is getting divorced. Thankfully, it is not from Uncle Jesse.
Loughlin has filed for divorce from her real-life husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, after nearly 29 years of marriage. While the divorce itself is making headlines, there is a much more interesting detail for those of us who practice California prenup law.
Aunt Becky had a prenup. And apparently, one prenup was not the end of the story.
According to Loughlin's Los Angeles Superior Court divorce filing, she and Giannulli signed their original premarital agreement on October 28, 1997, approximately one month before their November 27 wedding. Then, nearly 18 years into the marriage, they went back and amended it in August 2015. Now that Loughlin has filed for divorce, she is asking the court to divide their property, assets, and debts according to the original prenup and the subsequent amendment. The specific terms of either agreement have not been publicly disclosed.
So while Uncle Jesse can breathe a sigh of relief, Loughlin's actual divorce raises a very good California prenup question:
Can you change a prenup after you are already married?
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is where things get interesting.
Can You Amend a Prenup After Marriage in California?
Yes. California Family Code section 1614 specifically allows spouses to amend or revoke a premarital agreement after marriage. The statute provides that after marriage, a premarital agreement may be amended or revoked only through a written agreement signed by both parties. California law also provides that additional consideration is not required for the amendment or revocation to be enforceable.
In other words, getting married does not permanently freeze the prenup you signed before the wedding.
Aunt Becky apparently did not put her 1997 prenup in a drawer and forget about it forever. Eighteen years later, she and Giannulli went back and amended it. That is completely possible under California law. But once you are married, changing the financial deal can become considerably more complicated than negotiating the original prenup.
Why Would Someone Change a Prenup 18 Years Later?
Think about how much can change over 18 years. The couple who walks down the aisle may have completely different finances by the time they celebrate their 10th, 15th, or 20th anniversary. A business that was relatively small before marriage may become extremely valuable. One spouse may stop working to raise children. The couple may purchase substantial real estate. Someone may receive a significant inheritance. One spouse's income may increase dramatically. The parties may create trusts or completely revise their estate plans. Or maybe the financial arrangement that seemed perfectly reasonable before the wedding simply no longer reflects the marriage the couple actually built.
We do not know what prompted Loughlin and Giannulli to amend their prenup in 2015, and their private terms should remain just that, private. But the timing illustrates an important point.
A prenup is written based on what the parties know and expect before marriage. Life does not always follow the script. Even on Full House, the Tanner household managed to add new people, new careers, new relationships, and somehow even more people living in that San Francisco house.
Real financial lives change too. Sometimes the original agreement still works perfectly.
Sometimes it needs a rewrite.
Is Amending a Prenup the Same as Negotiating the Original Prenup?
Not exactly. This is where California law becomes particularly important.
Before marriage, the parties are prospective spouses negotiating a premarital agreement.
After marriage, they are already spouses. California Family Code section 721 provides that spouses owe each other fiduciary duties in transactions between themselves, including the highest duty of good faith and fair dealing. Neither spouse may take unfair advantage of the other.
That means changing a prenup after marriage should not be treated like opening the old Word document, changing a few sentences, and hitting "Save As: Prenup Final FINAL v2."
Suppose the original prenup provides that earnings during marriage will be community property. Fifteen years later, the higher-earning spouse proposes an amendment stating that all future earnings will now be that spouse's separate property. Or suppose the original agreement gives one spouse substantial rights involving the family residence, retirement benefits, business appreciation, reimbursement, or spousal support, and the proposed amendment asks that spouse to surrender those rights. Those are not housekeeping changes. They can substantially alter the economic rights of spouses who are already in a fiduciary relationship with one another.
Can We Just Cross Something Out of the Old Prenup?
That is generally not the approach I would recommend. California Family Code section 1614 requires an amendment after marriage to be in writing and signed by both spouses.
But satisfying that basic requirement does not solve every drafting problem. An amendment should make crystal clear exactly what is changing and what remains in effect.
Imagine a 35-page prenup signed before marriage. Eighteen years later, the spouses sign a three-page amendment changing several provisions.
Which definitions from the original agreement still apply?
What happens if the amendment changes a property provision but does not change a related reimbursement provision?
Does the original spousal support provision still apply?
What about rights upon death?
Which document controls if the language conflicts?
Suddenly, instead of one clear agreement, you have two documents written 18 years apart that a future judge may have to reconcile.
That is not the sequel anyone wanted.
The purpose of amending a prenup should be to create greater clarity, not create Full House: The Contract Litigation Years.
Amendment or Postnuptial Agreement: What's the Difference?
Sometimes a simple amendment is exactly what the parties need. If the spouses want to change one narrow provision while leaving everything else intact, a carefully drafted amendment may accomplish that goal. Other situations are more complicated. If the spouses want to substantially restructure their financial relationship, recharacterize existing property, change how future earnings are treated, modify business rights, revise reimbursement provisions, or coordinate substantial new estate planning, a comprehensive postnuptial agreement may make more sense.
The new agreement can clearly explain which provisions of the original prenup remain effective, which provisions are being replaced, and how the parties' rights will operate going forward. The correct approach depends on what the spouses are actually trying to accomplish. Sometimes you need to edit one scene. Sometimes you need a new script.
Can One Spouse Force the Other to Amend the Prenup?
No. Family Code section 1614 requires the amendment to be signed by both parties.
One spouse can ask. One spouse can propose changes. The spouses can negotiate.
But one spouse cannot simply announce: "Good news. I updated our prenup. Sign here."
That is not how it works. This becomes particularly important when the proposed amendment substantially benefits one spouse.
If your spouse presents you with an amendment to a prenup you signed years ago, you should first understand what rights you currently have before agreeing to surrender or modify them. The fact that you signed the original agreement does not mean you should automatically sign version 2.0.
Should Each Spouse Have a Separate Lawyer?
For any significant postmarital amendment, independent legal advice is an important safeguard. The attorney representing one spouse does not suddenly represent both spouses simply because everyone wants the amendment completed. Each spouse should understand the existing agreement, the proposed changes, the financial consequences of those changes, and what rights may be gained or surrendered. This becomes especially important where there is a significant difference in income, access to financial information, bargaining power, business ownership, or control over marital assets.
If Aunt Becky teaches us anything here, it is that you can revisit the script. But both spouses should understand the rewrite before anyone signs the final episode.
What If Our Finances Have Completely Changed Since We Signed the Prenup?
Changed circumstances do not automatically change your prenup. Suppose your prenup says that earnings remain separate property. Years later, you begin depositing those earnings into joint accounts.
Or your agreement protects a business as separate property, and 15 years later that business is worth 50 times more than it was before marriage.
Maybe you have children.
Maybe one spouse stopped working.
Maybe someone inherited substantial wealth.
Maybe you bought several properties.
Maybe the person expected to be the higher earner is now the lower earner.
None of those events automatically rewrites the contract. If the parties want different contractual rights, they generally need to formally document those changes. That is why couples with older prenups may want to periodically pull the agreement out of the proverbial Tanner-family attic and actually read it again.
The question is simple:
Does the agreement we signed years ago still accomplish what we want today?
Sometimes the answer is yes.
If so, there may be absolutely nothing to change.
Does a California Prenup Expire?
Generally, no. A California prenup does not automatically expire because the marriage has lasted 10, 20, or 30 years. Some agreements contain sunset clauses or provisions that change after a certain number of years. But unless the agreement itself provides otherwise, the passage of time does not automatically terminate it.
That makes Loughlin's divorce particularly interesting. Her filing reportedly asks the court to apply an agreement originally signed in 1997, together with an amendment signed in 2015.
That original prenup is almost three decades old.
For couples with long marriages, this also demonstrates why document preservation matters. Both spouses should retain complete copies of the original agreement, every amendment, financial disclosure schedule, exhibit, and signature page. A prenup that nobody can locate 30 years later creates a very different problem. And unfortunately, "Have mercy!" is not an evidentiary rule.
What Happens If the Original Prenup and Amendment Conflict?
Ideally, the amendment answers that question.
A properly drafted amendment should identify the original prenup by date, specify exactly which provisions are being changed, confirm which provisions remain in full force and effect, and state what happens if there is a conflict between the documents.
If the new agreement is intended to completely replace the original prenup, it should say that clearly.
Ambiguity defeats one of the principal reasons for having a prenup in the first place. The parties are trying to create predictability. Nobody wants to spend years litigating whether paragraph 12 of the 1997 agreement was superseded by paragraph 4 of the 2015 amendment.
When Should You Consider Reviewing an Existing Prenup?
There is no California rule requiring spouses to review their prenup every few years. But certain major changes may justify taking another look. A business may become substantially more valuable. One spouse may leave the workforce. The couple may receive significant inheritances or family gifts. They may purchase major real estate, sell a company, experience a liquidity event, relocate to another state or country, or substantially revise their estate plans.
Reviewing the prenup does not mean you have to change it.
Sometimes the best result of the review is:
Everything still works. Leave it alone.
But if the agreement no longer reflects what both spouses want, California law provides a mechanism for changing it.
What Does Aunt Becky’s Divorce Teach Us About California Prenups?
The interesting part of Lori Loughlin's divorce is not simply that she had a prenup.
Plenty of celebrities have prenups. The interesting part is that Aunt Becky and Giannulli reportedly came back 18 years later and amended theirs.
We do not know why.
We do not know what changed.
And there is no reason to speculate.
But the existence of the amendment illustrates something important for every California couple with an older prenup:
Your prenup does not have to remain frozen forever simply because you signed it before the wedding.
California allows spouses to amend their premarital agreement after marriage. But after marriage, the legal relationship between the parties has changed. Spouses owe fiduciary duties to one another, and a significant amendment to financial rights deserves careful negotiation, disclosure, drafting, and independent legal advice.
Sometimes a narrow amendment is enough.
Sometimes the better answer is a comprehensive postnuptial agreement.
And sometimes, after reviewing the original agreement, everyone realizes that the old prenup still works just fine.
Even Aunt Becky apparently knew that sometimes the script needs a rewrite.
The important part is making sure everyone understands the new ending.
Final Takeaway
For millions of people, Lori Loughlin will always be Aunt Becky from Full House.
So yes, Aunt Becky is getting divorced.
No, thankfully, Uncle Jesse is not involved.
But her real-life divorce gives us a genuinely useful California prenup lesson. Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli reportedly signed their original prenup in 1997. Eighteen years later, they amended it. Now, nearly three decades after their marriage began, Loughlin is asking a California court to divide their property according to those agreements.
Their private financial terms remain private, as they should.
The broader lesson is what matters:
Yes, you can change a California prenup after marriage.
The harder questions are whether you should change it, what the amendment should accomplish, and whether an amendment or a comprehensive postnuptial agreement is the better way to document the new deal.
A prenup may have been written for the couple you were before the wedding.
Sometimes life changes.
Sometimes finances change.
And sometimes, even Aunt Becky needs a rewrite.
Just make sure the rewrite is done correctly. Otherwise, unlike Full House, there may not be a neat resolution in 22 minutes.
Thinking About Amending Your California Prenup?
If you are considering changing a California prenuptial agreement after marriage, the goal should not simply be to revise a few provisions and sign an amendment. The goal should be to make sure the updated agreement clearly reflects what both spouses intend today, properly addresses the financial circumstances that have changed since the wedding, and works together with the original prenup without creating new ambiguities or enforceability concerns.
Our office focuses exclusively on the drafting and review of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements throughout California. Whether you are considering an amendment to an existing prenup, need a comprehensive postnuptial agreement, or simply want to know whether the prenup you signed years ago still accomplishes what you intended, we invite you to contact us to schedule a free consultation.
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