They’re not just for the rich and famous anymore.
As The New Yorker recently reported, prenuptial agreements are becoming more popular among the youngest generations getting married: Millennials and Gen Z. Over 40 percent of married members of those generations say they have signed a prenup, according to The New Yorker. Here’s why.
What is a prenuptial agreement?
A prenup is simply a contract signed between two soon-to-be spouses in advance of marriage that spells out some of the terms of any potential divorce. Some matters that can be addressed in a prenup include:
- Spousal support (alimony)
- Division of marital property
- Ownership of major assets, such as a business or real estate
- Division of and responsibility for debt
A prenup can’t determine every aspect of your potential divorce. In particular, child custody and child support are off limits; those issues must be decided by the court based on the best interests of the child. Still, a prenuptial agreement can take a lot of the uncertainty out of divorce and get the process resolved faster.
Why are younger generations more likely to sign prenups?
- Lack of faith in the institution of marriage. Millennials and Gen Z are the children of generations that saw significant increases in the divorce rate; about one in four millennials are children of divorce or separation. It makes intuitive sense that they would want to be prepared for their own divorce.
- Ease of access to prenups. There are a variety of online tools that can make creating a prenuptial agreement much easier than it once was (though as we’ll discuss below, those tools have serious drawbacks). Members of the younger generation are comfortable with Web-based or app-based tools, so they’re taking full advantage of the opportunity.
- Debt division. Remember, one of the most important purposes of a prenup is to determine who will be responsible for debts. For the younger generations who have significant student loans and other types of debts, this is an important consideration.
- Emphasis on freedom and mobility. A prenup can make the divorce process quicker and easier, which in turn makes it easier to get on with your life after divorce—an attractive benefit for a generation that values mobility.
Our law firm can help you create a prenup that meets your individual needs
Again, prenups have caught on with the younger generations because of the variety of digital tools they can use to create a quick and easy prenup. However, using such a tool without getting legal advice can raise some serious issues down the road.
In particular, a soon-to-be-married couple may go into the prenup process with an unrealistically optimistic attitude—after all, no one goes into a marriage expecting to get divorced, so no one signs a prenup expecting it to ever actually come into play. This can lead to people signing prenups with terms much more favorable to the other spouse than they would actually want.
The key benefit of working with an experienced divorce lawyer is that we’ve seen what happens at the end. We can work with you to craft a more prudent prenup that will actually protect your interests in the event of a future divorce and help you avoid pitfalls that could have serious long-term consequences.
If you’re moving toward marriage and considering a prenuptial agreement, don’t sign one of the most important contracts of your life without getting sound legal advice. Talk to the legal team at Courtney Clark Law, P.C. today. Give us a call or contact us online to see how we can help.
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