When is it good to get a prenuptial agreement?

Answer 1

It is almost always a good idea to have a prenuptial agreement. You should have a prenuptial agreement if you

1) have children from another marriage

2) have substantial assets prior to your marriage

3) have substantial intellectual property from before your marriage

4) already own a home

5) own a business

6) your partner has debt

7) have another person who relies on you for support (ie: parent or sibling)

Answer 2

A prenuptial agreement is a contract that lays out who gets what in the event of a divorce. It also may address issues of alimony and child support.

Briefly, it may be a good idea because it provides predictability, provided that there has been full disclosure of assets and liabilities by all parties at the inception of the agreement. If there has not been, the validity and fairness of the agreement can be attacked. The parties must also have freely entered it.

The down side of such an agreement is that it may be thought to take some of the "romance" out of getting married, and inject an element of "business" into it. That said, marriage has both of those elements anyway.