The Emerging Prevalance of Prenuptial Agreements

While prenuptial agreements used to be a very touchy subject, in recent years they have become more and more popular. The reality is, over 50% of marriages end in divorce, and couples who are about to wed are wise to think about protecting themselves... just in case things don't work out. Interesting, as prenuptial agreements are becoming more commonplace, they are also seen as less adversarial, and more cooperative. Prenuptial agreements can be a sound means for couples to plan and control their future, whether their marriage works out or unfortunately does not.
The intricacies of prenuptial agreements, despite their rising popularity, continue to be a mystery. For example, a prenuptial agreement cannot in any way "promote divorce." Such an agreement would be deemed unenforceable in a court of law. Furthermore, agreements in a prenuptial agreement that state the amount or frequency of future child support would also be deemed unenforceable. A court will always look to the best interests of the children, and never what a couple may or may not have thought fair before they entered a marriage. These types of things, if written into a prenuptial agreement, may make the entire prenuptial agreement unenforceable - a good reason to work with an experienced prenuptial agreement attorney.
Sometimes asking your future spouse to sign a prenup can be tough, and broaching the subject is often a hard thing to do without hurting your future spouse's feelings. We would suggest that rather than approach the subject from the perspective that over 50% of marriages end in divorce and you want to protect your own personal interests should things not work out, take a different route instead. Tell your spouse that while you love them deeply, you want, for both of your sake, to plan ahead just in case. A well thought out prenuptial agreement can protect both of you -- you can plan who will get the home, who will have what rights to your retirement accounts, etc, so that if things do not work out in the future, these is little to fight about. The divorce would not be messy with a nasty, public divorce case -- it can be handled quietly and amicably though the prenuptial agreement signed beforehand.
Mike Jonesan is a nationally recognized lecturer on divorce and family law issues. A resident of Georgia, he frequently counsels Georgia prenuptial agreement attorneys on creating fair and equitable prenuptial agreements. He can be reached at http://www.georgiaprenuptialagreements.com
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