Marriage is a beautiful thing that is done under a legal institution. However, things can go south in ways that you never expected. Be it with certain boundaries during the marriage or in the unfortunate event of divorce; it can later become a messy affair with legal consequences.
Millennials are saying yes to a prenup before their wedding to avoid matters that can cause conflict between the partners. It encourages them to open up about specific issues and communicate freely, which they probably wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Are you wondering why millennials sign a prenup before they say ‘I do’? Let’s have a look at seven reasons for it.
What is a Prenup?
A prenup, also known as a prenuptial or premarital agreement, is a contract signed by a couple about to get married or enter a legal union.
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Prenuptial agreements, discussed and signed before a lawyer with their legal advice, replace the default marital laws in the unwanted events of separation by divorce or death. It can also protect people who don’t have any parental inheritance against certain losses.
Talking about divorce settlements, finances, and many other things before getting married sounds very unromantic. Why are millennials getting a prenup?
1. Income and Assets
Millennials are getting married much later in their lives. It means they are accumulating more wealth and assets for the future, so they have a lot more to protect in the event of separation.
It isn’t always easy for everyone to open up about financial matters before getting married. However, getting a prenup enables couples to communicate openly about income, assets, debts, and other finances, allowing them to discover more about each other.
2. Rising Student Debt Before Marriage
More millennials are getting higher education, which is very expensive. This leaves them in a pile of student debt that takes a long time to repay. Therefore, they prefer to take care of these before getting married.
Couples sign prenups to be able to repay their student debt fully, even after marriage. It allows them to avoid any confusion with financial adjustments later on.
Nowadays, couples get into joint ventures, sharing the assets and liabilities. They may even have joint ownership of their apartment. Why do they need a prenup for this?
A prenup allows them to state what share of the venture and assets each of the partners will get in divorce, who has more right over these matters, or what will happen to them if a partner, unfortunately, passes away. They may also decide to waive alimony in their prenups.
4. Career and Parenting Preferences
While one partner may want both to be involved with a career after getting married, the other partner may have a different preference. A prenup will help them decide and legally state their intentions with their job during the marriage.
Partners in a marriage may have different parenting preferences. One partner may want to be a stay-at-home parent, while the other may wish both to have a job. They also decide whether or not to have kids and who the stay-at-home parent should be. A prenup helps to avoid unwanted issues that may affect their marriage.
5.Custody Over Kids and Pets
In a divorce, children get stuck in the battle of custody and child support. To avoid this unfortunate situation, couples state in their prenup who should get custody over their children or whether they should share the custody if they get divorced.
Millennial couples even buy pets together to start a family. In the separation event, they may have a dispute over who should own the pets. Partners can mention who gets the pets in their prenup and under what conditions.
6.Experiences From Parents
A good chunk of the millennials are children of divorced parents. They have grown up facing unwanted situations in a split household, such as fighting over custody, sending restraining orders, etc. It all ends up traumatizing children well into their adulthood.
If the parents are getting divorced, they should mention certain conditions in the prenup to help them enforce good parenting practices so that their children can have a better childhood. this way, they are not repeating the same mistakes their parents made.
7. Mentioning Each Other on Social Media
I know this sounds strange. Why should anyone decide their social media activities in a pre-nuptial? Some celebrities do it not to control their social media activities but to avoid creating a bad reputation for their partners.
A lot of millennials have adopted this strategy. They mention that in the event of separation, either of the partners cannot put up a negative image about the other on social media. Either speak good of each other or never mention each other.
Conclusion
Millennials sign a prenup before they say ‘I do’ as prenups help provide an alternative to the marital laws fixed by the state. Besides, they also get an opportunity to know each other even better as they have to disclose many details about themselves before they tie the knot. So millennials see signing a prenup as a way of future-proofing themselves in the event of a divorce. Matters such as children and the division of assets are also addressed in the prenup.