While millennials tend to get hitched later in life than previous generations, many are coming to marrying age. According to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 51% of lawyers report an increase in the number of millennials getting prenuptial agreements. This generation now accounts for the largest population requesting prenuptial agreements.
Millennials may be more likely to get prenups for a variety of reasons. These reasons may be related to different generational attitudes and financial realities. This in turn is affecting what their prenups cover. Here are a few things that differentiate millennial prenuptial agreements:
- No more stigma: High divorce rates may have made millennials less optimistic about a marriage that lasts forever. Exposure to divorce may have reduced any stigma of getting prenuptial agreements that older generations may have had.
- Intellectual property: Millennials are also getting different provisions in their prenuptial agreements than older generations. Intellectual property seems to be an increasingly popular provision for millennials in their prenups. Intellectual property is any creative work that someone wants to retain the rights to. This could include trademarks, patents and copyright. Some millennials even include provisions for any their future intellectual property.
- Complicated finances: Another contributing reason to millennial prenup rates is the fact that millennials tend to delay marriage. This means that they may be walking down the aisle with more assets as individuals than their parents did. Millennials also have a significantly greater amount of student debt than previous generations. Many experts suggest that personal debt is a valid reason to obtain a prenuptial agreement.
The stereotype is that millennials like to do things a little bit differently. This certainly seems to be the case when it comes to prenuptial agreements and marriage.