The rise of the prenup and how it’s associated with divorce
August 13, 2026
Prenuptial agreements used to be the domain of celebrities and the superwealthy. That may be changing: a new Harris poll suggests more than half of engaged or married couples under the age of 45 have negotiated the terms of their divorce before they reach the altar. That’s roughly a fivefold increase in prenups since the 1990s.
Multiple social factors may help explain this trend, including that people are getting married older. The median age at first marriage for women is now 28; for men, it is 30 — which means people are entering marriage with more individual wealth they are inclined to protect.
