More millennials seeing a prenup as marriage insurance

First comes love, then comes marriage, but not before the prenup?

Millennials are getting married later than any other generation in history. But it’s not just the age that sets them apart. When this independent group of young-and-in-love plan their ‘I-Do’, they are plotting out more than food, photos and flowers. For many, prenups are a no-brainer as they head into their future.

A prenup, or prenuptial agreement, is made by a couple before they marry concerning the ownership of their respective assets should the marriage fail.

Before getting engaged, Erin Lowry, asked her fiance about getting a prenuptial agreement.

“Marriage is about love and it’s about romance. But I would never get into another contractual obligation without protecting myself. And marriage is a contract,” she said.

Lowry owns a business called Broke Millennial and says her fiance has some student debt that they will pay off after the wedding. To her, an agreement simply spells out how things work.

“By actually going through the process of signing one and creating one yourself, you’re taking the power back,” Lowry said.

A survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers finds more than 50% of participating attorneys see an increase in millennial prenups.

Fort Myers family attorney Timothy McCan II calls millennials fiercely independent.

“What prenups allow you to do, is it allows you to sit down and say this is how I can maintain my independence and this is how we can work as a team.”

Getting married later in life can mean more assets or more debt. Some things a prenup can address include student debt, businesses, retirement accounts, inheritance, pets and alimony.

“Permanent alimony is a huge discussion,” said McCan. “Say after a 20 year marriage, you could end up paying alimony for the rest of your life or theirs.”

McCan tells those going through the steps to set emotion aside.

“This isn’t about attacking one another, this is about trying to build a framework for your relationship.”

The prenups are a hot topic online with strong opinions on both sides.

Erin says her fiance at first thought of the agreement as a “divorce contract” but eventually came around and that they both see their prenup as marriage insurance.