Prenuptial Agreements: The Main Pros and Cons

The timeless institution of marriage brings unparalleled joy to so many people. But before you can retreat to the snuggery of wedded bliss, you’ll first have to navigate the tedious and loveless bureaucracy of modern life. This process can include filling out change-of-address forms, filing a name change request with Social Security, and most important of all, applying for your marriage license. In addition to this paperwork, you may also find yourself adding a prenuptial agreement to the pile. A prenuptial agreement, or “prenup” for short, simply specifies how you and your partner will divide assets in the event of a divorce or how parties will handle inheritance claims during the marriage. While prenups may seem like simple and prudent paperwork, the emotional implications of such a document can introduce complications so critical to the state of your engagement as to make you reconsider drafting and signing it. In this guide to the main pros and cons of prenuptial agreements, we’ll consider the benefits and drawbacks alike to help you determine whether a prenup is right for you, your spouse, and your situation.

The Case For

We’ll begin by making some arguments in favor of prenuptial agreements. As one of Chicagoland’s leading family law firms, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck has extensive experience in negotiating and drafting prenuptial agreements. However, bearing in mind that prenups are not for everyone, we’ll present some fair counterarguments as well.

Protect Yourself

Despite all our best efforts—and an abundance of storybook wedding receptions—as many as 50 percent of American marriages end in divorce. And while laws vary from state to state, the terms of a divorce can be deeply unfavorable without the existence of a negotiated prenuptial agreement. A prenup can limit spousal support payments, and for people who have built up wealth over their lifetime, it can protect against exploitation by a spouse who is out to take advantage of them.

Protect Your Business

Small business owners put their heart and soul into their work, and to lose what they’ve built in the event of divorce would add heartbreak upon heartbreak. Prenuptial agreements can protect your business assets, inoculating you against losing not only assets from before your marriage but also some of the assets your business amasses after your wedding.

Looking Out for Inheritances

The terms of a prenuptial agreement are not only about the two partners. It can also indirectly involve one’s beneficiaries. In instances where one partner is entering the marriage with children from a previous relationship, a prenuptial agreement is necessary in the event of an untimely death so that these children are able to inherit assets according to their parent’s wishes without regard to the spouse.

The Case Against

While the benefits of a prenuptial agreement seem clear, you should account for some of the drawbacks, which tend less toward legal issues and more toward personal factors.

How Very Unromantic

As you and your future spouse rush to plan a wedding, honeymoon, or even your first house together, there are many challenging decisions to make, but even when arguments become spirited or circumstances become difficult, there’s still a lot of love and affection undergirding those decisions. The love and affection inherent in a document that outlines what will happen in the case of a divorce, on the other hand, is quite a bit less apparent. Sitting down with lawyers to hash out a prenup can slow down the romantic run-up to a wedding.

Sowing Seeds of Distrust

On a related note, negotiating a prenuptial agreement can not only dampen the romance in a soon-to-be-married couple, but it can also actively foster a sense of distrust in the two future spouses. Allowing the specter of divorce to loom over wedding preparations may make couples feel that their marriage is already doomed to failure and that one or both partners are planning—or should plan—an exit. Even merely broaching the topic of a prenuptial agreement to a sensitive person could have dire consequences.

Signing With Unclear Thinking

We’ve all made bad decisions in our lives that we can attribute to a specifically blissful lack of rationality: “We were young and in love.” However, a prenuptial agreement with terms that are unfavorable to you may have some of the most serious ramifications yet. If you’re so in love with your partner that you’re willing to sign any paper put in front of you for the sake of getting the ink to dry as soon as possible, you could be putting your future at significant risk.