Why are prenuptial agreements becoming more common

As Olivia was picking her wedding dress, she and her partner Leo were also discussing divorce.

Despite being in love and ready to commit, they both came to the agreement that having a prenup was a sensible decision when starting their married life.

“You go into it with love and hope for the future,” Olivia says. “But also realism.”

They are not alone. Once the preserve of Hollywood celebs and the super-rich, prenuptial agreements are on the rise among “normal” people too, with legal and marriage experts saying numbers have increased dramatically in recent years; around one in five weddings in the UK now involves some form of legal agreement, according to several polls.

Some Examples 

Olivia and Leo got engaged last year after meeting on a dating app. Olivia, in her early 40s, is a business founder, and Leo, who is in his late 30s, now works for her company. He was the one to initially broach the subject of a prenup.

“I didn’t want to at first, as it doesn’t feel very romantic,” says Olivia.Being at the happy stage of getting married is great. However, discussing the possibility of a split puts a dampener on things.

Both have children from previous marriages; both have been through divorce. They decided a prenup was the right thing to do. Now, just a few weeks after their honeymoon, they are happily reminiscing through their wedding day photos. The prenup, filed away, is no longer a talking point. But if they ever need it, it should be there.

Leo expressed his discomfort. He couldn’t accept the idea that he could easily replicate her business in the future. “I wanted to make the decision from my heart, do what’s right, and focus on building shared assets together.”

“Both of us had amicable divorces,” Olivia adds. “But we know what can happen. It’s reality, and I think life is more complex these days.”

The law on prenups in the UK

A prenuptial or premarital agreement is one made before a couple marries or enters into a civil partnership, setting out how they wish assets to be divided in the event of a split. They are not automatically enforceable in England and Wales, but following a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010, courts now take them into account as long as they have been made in good faith.

They have long been commonplace for celebrities: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly had one, as apparently did Britney Spears and Sam Asghari. Catherine Zeta Jones reportedly told Vanity Fair back in 2000, the year she married Michael Douglas, that she thinks prenups are “brilliant.” And over the past few years, they have filtered into the real world, too.

Co-op Legal Services said prenup sales in 2023 were up by 60% on 2022, as were cohabitation agreements, and that post-nup agreements almost trebled (an increase of almost 185%) in the same period.It says that 21% of married people in Britain have some form of agreement in place. One in five couples, according to the research, have such an agreement. The Marriage Foundation published research revealing 2021 of these agreements.

The average value

The average value of the assets included in Co-op prenups sits between £500,000 and £600,000, it says. Family law firm OLS Solicitors reports a big increase in requests.The rise was between 2021 and NUMIn the first quarter, there was an additional increase of NUM Family law firm OLS Solicitors, which reported an increase of 60% in requests. In the first quarter of 2024, the increase was between 2021 and NUM. Compared with the same period last year, there was a further increase of 26%.

Experts put the rise down to a number of factors: women earning more; more people remarrying and going into partnerships with children; the internet increasing savivity and accessibility when it comes to the law. Millennials and younger generations are also generally getting married later in life than their parents, therefore accruing more assets individually ahead of the milestone.

Plus, these generations have grown up experiencing divorce. This was less common for their parents and grandparents. or These generations have experienced divorce more frequently. This was not the case for their parents and grandparents.

‘Break-up talk isn’t romantic; neither is death, but we make a will’

Despite the rising number of couples choosing this route, it seems few are comfortable talking about it publicly. The idea of a prenup being “unromantic” still prevails.

Olivia and Leo didn’t feel ready to share their real names with the world. They didn’t want to give these details. They arranged their prenup through Wenup, an online platform that makes couples’ deals more accessible and affordable. Wenup was launched in the UK in 2023 in response to the increasing demand.

“Prenups are considered taboo, unromantic, and something very private to most people,” says Wenup co-founder James Brookner.

“This is changing for younger generations who have a more open, pragmatic, and non-traditional view of marriage, but for many people, thinking about what will happen if they break up in the lead-up to a wedding is a difficult enough conversation to have in private, let alone in public.”

What do prenups cover?

While couples in the UK might not be showing off along with their engagement photos, attitudes are changing privately.42% of British people believe that prenups are a good idea. 13% of British people think that prenups are a bad idea. – A similar number, 35%, would sign a prenup if asked. 36% expressed they would not sign a prenup.

Family Law Solicitor Tracey Moloney

At the other end of the scale, she recalls a divorce after a long marriage. The marriage did not involve a prenup. The wife had inherited jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. It was never intended to be sold. The jewelry had significant value. She kept the jewelry. As a result, the ex-wife kept a larger share of his pension. 5. She was entitled to the jewelry, but he kept more of his pension. If she’d had a prenup, it could have been ring-fenced.

From proposal to prenup

Harry Benson, research director for the Marriage Foundation, said he was surprised at the results of the charity’s survey findings. “I thought this was something we would only find among the very richest people,” he says.

Individuals in the 20% group who have been married since 2000 demonstrated a 5% higher agreement in the 1980s.This group also had a higher agreement rate of 8% in the 1990s. 1.5% of those who were married in the 1970s had a different agreement. In the 1980s, they had 5%, and in the 1990s, they had 8%. The charity’s poll did find that higher-earning women were more likely to have pregnancies. In terms of education, the findings were the other way around.

The idea of “dividing up the spoils before you even get started” was found to be unromantic by Mr. Benson. “Divorce law, in general, protects people,” he says. “For most people, there’s little value in obtaining something they don’t require,” he adds. There is also the risk that you will make a proposal and face the possibility of rejection. Down on one knee, you ask for a signature. ‘Please sign my prenup,’ you say. The response? ‘Get stuffed! Are you the type of person I want to marry?'”

Research finds no link between having a prenup and divorce rates

However, he said the research found no link between having a prenup and divorce rates. The researchers did not find that having a prenup affected the likelihood of a couple breaking up. Prenup did not increase or decrease the probability of a couple separating, according to the research.

“It’s not for me, but it is for some people,” he says. “I can see why people do it and I can certainly see the benefits for some… I just personally find them a bit oxymoronic.”

But the idea of the prenup being unromantic is definitely changing. Wenup states that making the process more equitable and open allows them to witness the shift directly. This group includes customers who do not conform to the stereotype of wealthy wealth protectors.

“If you’re not sure you need one, you probably need one,” says the Legal Queen. They’re similar to insurance. You hope you never have to use it. But they’re there to protect you if you do.

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