Interest in Prenups Is Surging, But It's Not Always About Assets

It wasn't that long ago that the subject of a prenuptial agreement could effectively put the chill on impending nuptials. Nowadays, with 40 percent of all marriages ending in divorce, not only are prenups becoming more normalized, but the legal documents are now supported by half of adults in America.

This is according to a Harris Poll survey conducted for Axios in September, which found that 50 percent of U.S. adults said they "at least somewhat supported the use of prenups," up from 42 percent in a similar survey conducted last year. And we can attribute the rise in popularity to younger generations getting married.

Although only about one-in-five married couples have a prenuptial agreement in place, 41 percent of Gen Z respondents and and 47 percent of millennial respondents who are engaged or have been married and say that they entered a prenup.

In what is undoubtedly another sign of the times, whereas prenups used to be for protecting individual assets heading into a marriage, engaged couples are now getting them to protect themselves against debt. 

Kelly Chang Rickert, a family law attorney who has a TikTok account where she shares legal information about marriage and divorce, says that depending which state you live in, splitting up without a prenup could leave you responsible for your partner's debt and and vulnerable to creditors.

@lawyerkelly

what’s in your prenup? #prenuptialagreement #prenup #marriage #whatgodhasjoinedtogether #ido #marriagelawyer

♬ Everything I Have Is Yours - Billie Holiday

In fact, HelloPrenup, an online service that charges a flat fee of $599 to put prenuptial agreements in place, shared user data with Axios that found 65 percent of customers say they want to protect against their partner's debt. The company is projected to prepare 25 times more prenups in 2023 than it did in 2021.

"Not all prenups say that you won't get half," Chang Rickert explained. "What a prenup does, essentially, is take [your potential divorce] out of the court system," where you could be beholden to state laws and judge rulings that may not be in your best interest."

"A long time ago, I think if you mentioned 'prenup,' it [brought] up fears of divorce," she added. "Today, it's more accepted [as] part of the wedding planning process."