A prenuptial contract, or prenup, is a legal agreement that a couple sign before they get married. It lays out what will happen to finances in the event of divorce, death, or splitting up. And they are becoming as popular as avocado toast for the millennial generation.
Millennials tend to marry later, wait an average of six-and-a-half years before tying the knot. The result is that they have had more time to accumulate both assets and debts. They also are more likely to have experienced parents who are divorced or never married than the previous generation. Women are earning more than the previous generation and, as a result, are gathering more assets before marriage. Now, more than ever before, women can be the breadwinners in their relationship. Millennials value freedom highly and so they do not want to feel financially imprisoned in a marriage. A prenuptial agreement is a great way to ensure that.
A prenuptial agreement can protect a business that someone has spent years building up, make sure your assets go to your children, maintain a legacy, or prevent you from having to take half of the debt of your spouse in a divorce case. What if you already know what will happen to your money before you get married? Some people find it reassuring. For Solicitors Huddersfield to help, visit a site like https://bridgelawsolicitors.co.uk/services-for-individuals/family-law/holmfirth-huddersfield-family/
While feelings of love, connection and commitment are what inspire two people to commit to marriage, it is still technically a legal agreement for the combining of assets. There is nothing more romantic than the ability to be honest and communicate about the expectations of each party when entering the marriage. Although people get blinded by arrangements during an engagement and planning of a wedding, marriage is still a contract. Marriage is the biggest financial decision of your life. You will not enter into any other legal contract without protection, so why would you treat marriage any differently?
To create a prenuptial agreement the couple must share information about their finances – accounts, taxes, insurance, investments, debt, expected inheritance. This forces the couple to talk about their finances with an open and transparent manner that may not otherwise happen. Best case scenario, which leads to a conversation about money, priorities, and expectations about marriage.
Nobody enters marriage wanting to divorce but 40 to 50 percent of marriages do end in that way. Surely it would be better to decide the division of assets when you are in love and get along? If you do not decide it now, perhaps the court will have to decide for you, or you’ll be battling it out with your partner during a time when one or both of you are probably hurt, angry and upset. Breaking up can be messy but divorce can really stressful, and prenups can help to avoid some of the unpleasantness that can happen when people divide assets in tense and upsetting conditions.
