Some people will warn you that signing a prenuptial agreement is essentially advertising that you think your marriage won’t last. However, no one can know when they first get engaged what will happen in their relationship later.
People change over time, especially within the confines of a permanent relationship like marriage. You may discover things about your spouse that you simply cannot ignore, like their inability to remain faithful. You may also realize as you start preparing for retirement that you have simply grown apart over the years.
Drafting a prenuptial agreement will allow you to divorce with dignity if that is what happens at the end of your marriage, and it may also set you and your fiance up for a happier and more functional marriage.
Prenuptial agreements help you remove the rose-colored glasses
The process of negotiating a prenuptial agreement can help you and your fiance really evaluate what you expect from one another and your marriage. Do you expect fidelity? Do you expect that your spouse will be honest and share with you? What contributions do you expect each of you to make to the household?
Even your expectations in the event of a divorce can go a long way toward clarifying what would be best for the two of you during your marriage. The difficult discussions you have to have about what would be fair to split your property or handle custody disagreements involving any children you may have can help you see each other more realistically and start the next phase of your relationship with realistic and therefore attainable expectations.
Prenuptial agreements allow for low-conflict, lower-cost divorces
If you wait until the two of you can barely stand to be in the same room as one another, it will be very difficult to negotiate reasonable terms for property division and spousal support. Addressing these possible future matters now while your relationship is still in good standing will allow you to file a simple, uncontested divorce if that is what happens in your relationship.
You won’t have to litigate the issues that you have already addressed in your prenuptial agreement, so you will save money and protect both of you from embarrassment. Seeing the benefits of drafting a prenuptial agreement yourself could help you convince your future spouse that an agreement is a good tool to protect both of you.