A Georgia court will normally apply the state law your prenuptial agreement says applies.
The General Rule
In Carr v. Kupfer, 250 Ga. 106 (1982), the Georgia Supreme Court held that “[a]bsent a contrary public policy, this court will normally enforce a contractual choice of law clause.”
The couple there signed an antenuptial agreement in Maryland in 1974, where they lived, and the agreement said Maryland law governed it. They moved to Georgia in 1978, and the husband died here in 1981. The wife argued Georgia law should control the agreement’s validity. The Court applied Maryland law instead and upheld the waiver of her rights in his estate, holding that the parties “clearly chose Maryland law as controlling” and that she had identified no public policy forbidding enforcement.
Where the Limit Sits
The exception is not a small one. In Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635 (1982), the agreement said it was to be construed under Michigan law, but the Georgia Supreme Court noted that “the enforceability of antenuptial agreements is, of course, a matter of public policy,” and that “where the enforcement of a contract in this state draws public-policy considerations into question, those public-policy considerations will be determined according to the laws of this state.”
In Arlotta v. Arlotta, 906 S.E.2d 912 (Ga. Ct. App. 2024), a couple signed in Minnesota under a Minnesota choice of law clause and later moved to Georgia. Enforceability was still decided under Georgia law.
So a clause picking another state’s law can control how your agreement is read. It does not let you contract around Georgia’s own rules about when a prenuptial agreement may be enforced at all.
The clause also reaches only the agreement. In Carr, the same court applied Georgia law to decide whether the husband’s will was valid, because a will is governed by the law of the testator’s domicile at death. Choosing another state’s law for your prenuptial agreement does not choose it for the rest of your case.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!