You might not have any strong feelings about getting a prenuptial agreement, and neither does your spouse-to-be. If you’re both young and have relatively few major assets, you don’t see the need. However, your parents might be adamant about it.
Before you dig in your heels and tell them to stay out of your business, make sure you know what’s at stake. If you’re part of the family business, they’re likely trying to protect that. A divorce could potentially leave your spouse with a share of it. Your family has a right to take steps to ensure that it stays in the family – or with people they choose to run it.
There could be a lot at stake
If there’s no family business, they could be trying to protect your inheritance. We’re in the midst of something that’s been called the “Great Wealth Transfer.” It’s been estimated that people born prior to the 1970s will be leaving between $30 and $68 trillion to future generations.
If your family has a fair amount of assets, they may have already put some of it in a trust for you or are making you the beneficiary of a trust after they’re gone. There may be a family trust. There are ways to “divorce-proof” these things. However, a prenup can further ensure that none of that money can be lost in a divorce.
You can’t pressure someone into signing a prenup
You need to know what it is you’re protecting as you develop a prenup. However, it’s your prenup. Your parents’ input should end with giving you the information you need to protect those assets. Everything else should be between you and your future spouse (and your legal representatives).
It’s also crucial to remember that your fiance doesn’t have to sign a prenup. Neither you nor your parents can put too much pressure on them to agree to one. That includes drawing one up and putting it in front of them to sign just days before the wedding. Prenups signed under those conditions generally don’t hold up in court.
Your fiance has the right to a say in the document and to their own legal counsel. If both of you have sound (and separate) legal guidance, you can better develop a prenup that protects both of your interests.
