Three Prenup Myths Financial Advisors Can Help Dispel

Financial advisors are helping clients address three common misconceptions about prenuptial agreements: that couples avoid discussing them, that they are meant only for high earners and that they apply only to first marriages. Prenups can set terms for assets, debts, future income and business growth if a marriage ends.

A 2026 Harris poll of 2,148 Americans found that 53% of respondents younger than 45 who were engaged or married had signed a prenup. The result points to wider use of agreements among younger couples.

Amanda Rieman Sarago, an estate planning attorney at Hargrove Firm in Fairfax, Virginia, described the right time for an advisor to raise the subject as the point when a client’s money is about to become “ours.” She called a prenup a “loving document” that may reduce conflict if a relationship ends.

Advisors can begin by asking what a client and a new partner have discussed about money, how each person views their assets and debts, and how they expect to make financial decisions together.

Parents may raise the issue with their adult children. Rieman Sarago noted that some parents want to prevent an ex-spouse from receiving assets intended as an inheritance. Trusts and estate planning can address that concern. “Lifetime protection trusts” may keep inherited assets in the family and provide protection from some creditors, including those pursuing claims after a car accident.

Another misconception is that prenups require a high income or net worth. Sarah Wotherspoon, managing director and advisor at Wealthspire in San Rafael, California, reported that the need for an agreement often depends on a couple’s financial arrangements rather than its income.

“It’s less about the net worth number, and it’s more about the complexity of the situation that drives the desire for some kind of agreement,” Wotherspoon said.

Couples earning less than six figures have used prenups to separate spousal debts, set terms for future income and business growth, protect assets accumulated before marriage, and provide for a stay-at-home parent. The agreements may also address children or a spouse’s retirement savings from an earlier job.

The third misconception is that prenups apply only to first marriages. Erin Botsford of Advisor Authority encourages advisors to ask clients in existing marriages whether their estate documents require a future spouse to sign a valid prenup.

Such a provision may require a surviving spouse to sign an agreement with a later partner to retain access to assets belonging to the deceased spouse. Botsford noted that many clients have not considered how remarriage could affect inheritance plans.

Botsford uses humor to raise the subject, describing a hypothetical case involving a client who dies after a long marriage and a surviving spouse who later remarries. The example can make discussion of death easier, while clarifying that the client’s children may have to enforce the prenup requirement.

A prenup may need review after it is signed. Changes in wealth, children, business ownership, inheritance or marital status can affect whether the document reflects a client’s plans. Wotherspoon described the agreement as a document that can be revisited over time. “Something is better than nothing,” she said. “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”