Prenups: the practical case

Prenuptial agreements have a bad reputation as tools for the wealthy or the pessimistic. The actual case for them is more interesting: a prenup is a conversation between future spouses about money, codified into writing, before emotions get involved. The document itself matters less than the conversation it forces.

What a prenup actually does

A prenup specifies what happens to money and property if the marriage ends. It can protect assets acquired before marriage, spell out how future income gets classified, and protect each party from the other's premarital debts. In the absence of a prenup, divorce court uses default state rules — which may or may not match what either of you would have chosen.

Who actually benefits

• Couples where one partner enters with substantially more assets or debt than the other.
• Couples where one partner owns or will inherit a business, farm, or family property.
• Second marriages, especially with children from prior relationships.
• Couples in states with laws that don't match their intentions about inheritance or marital property.
• Anyone who wants to have the hard conversation once instead of during a crisis.