In the past, it would have been unusual to ask for a prenuptial agreement with your future spouse unless you were famous or rich. The belief was that ordinary, middle-class people did not need prenuptial agreements. Asking for one when society deemed it unnecessary would have seemed ostentatious. It may have raised questions about your confidence in the success of the marriage.
According to Business Insider, the stigma surrounding prenuptial agreements has lessened as they become more common among the middle class. If you are planning a marriage in the near future, here are some reasons you might want to consider a prenuptial agreement.
1. You have pets
You may regard your pets as part of the family, but the law regards them as property. Including provisions for who gets the pets in a divorce can help avoid a contentious battle should the marriage fail.
2. You plan to start a family
Children are not property, and you typically cannot put provisions for child support or custody in a prenuptial agreement. Such provisions must have a basis in the children’s interests, something that you cannot determine in advance. However, you can plan for financial circumstances that are contingent on you and your spouse eventually having children, such as one spouse quitting work to raise the children full time.
3. You own a business or have significant investments
Texas is a community property state, meaning that if you have significant investments or own a business, your spouse could end up owning half if you divorce. A business may not survive property division. A prenuptial agreement can preserve the company in your own name, which can help it outlast a divorce.
The same principle holds true if it is your future spouse who owns the business or has significant investments. A prenuptial agreement makes sense if one spouse has a lot more to lose than the other.