Prenups are becoming more popular in Australia, and especially among millennials. Here are the benefits…

A prenuptial agreement is a contract drafted before the couple gets married, and it clarifies how marital matters will be settled in the event of a divorce. Prenups are becoming more popular in Australia, and especially among millennials. Considering today’s marriages are formed when a couple is in their late twenties or early thirties, and they’ve already accumulated a significant amount of assets or maybe even debt signing a prenup allows them to protect their interests, offering plenty of benefits.

No paying off spouse’s old debts

A student loan is one of the worst debts that you end up with after you get your college degree. Once you enter a long-term devoted relationship what’s yours becomes your partner’s as well and vice versa, which can often lead to you end up paying for their loans. Also, if one of the spouses acquires a large debt during the marriage, the other one could ensure their savings and instead of having to spend the entire family savings, you could protect some of the money by signing a prenup. Alternatively, you might not have been dating for too long, and you thought this person is your soulmate so you decide to get married and spend the rest of your life together. Not knowing a person well or long enough will pose a threat to your finances, which is why a prenup would be a great way to save yourself from any surprises such as your partner’s mortgage on their Sydney home, or some debt made before you tied the knot. 

You can protect future investments

One spouse may be doing much better at their career pursuit, making smart and big investments and have their business thrive precisely during the marriage period. Without a prenup, all the assets formed during marriage are mutual and should be cut in half in case of a divorce. With a prenup, you can make sure that you don’t have to pay your other half off if you realise your marriage won’t last. This is also a smart idea if you already own a business and your spouse decides to invest in it, making it also partially their own venture. If you’d like to protect your assets, and you live in Australia, seek legal counselling and help from family solicitors in Sydney to make sure you’re making the right decision and that you’re including everything in the contract. It’s vital that both parties have their legal counsellors with them when they’re signing the agreement so that both partners are well-informed about all the clauses in the contract.

Ensure privacy

The last thing you need is all of your dirty laundry aired to the public after a terrible divorce process. This is precisely one of the matters that a prenup will address. By having a confidentiality clause in the contract, you prevent your spouse and yourself from letting out all the embarrassing or compromising details regarding your marriage and the life you’ve led during that time. This protects you from having photographs, videos, memoirs, or any other kind of publication that may ruin your reputation, seeing the light of day. 

Compensate for not working

If one of the spouses decides to quit their job in order to be a full-time parent, it will place them at a huge financial disadvantage. This is why a prenup is a good idea, because it may provide the spouse with a good financial plan in case they decide to get a divorce at some point. Another possibility is that if one spouse decides to pursue their career to another city or country, the entire family will need to move, making the other spouse sacrifice their own career and potentially being forced to quit their current job and stay unemployed for a while. Addressing this in a prenup will be a good idea, because should thing fall apart, the person who had to sacrifice their own business prosperity will be able to receive enough money to start over and live a decent life until another job opportunity presents itself.

Final thoughts

Signing a prenup is one of the best possible ways to protect your assets and make sure your financial future is safe. This does not mean that you plan for the marriage to fail and that you don’t believe it’ll last for a lifetime, but it means that you simply want to be smart about the entire venture.  A prenup will also make sure your children are provided with enough funds and that you can start over in case your marriage does not work.

The Carousel would like to thank Leila Dorari for her article.