- Key insight: Long considered a taboo or strictly for certain swaths of society, prenups have become more mainstream and part of clients' needs.
- What's at stake: Advisors who have an understanding of how they work and when to bring them up can provide another service and perspective for their clients.
- Supporting data: A Harris poll from 2026 reported that of the 2,148 Americans surveyed, 53% of respondents under the age of 45 who were engaged or married had signed a prenup in the process.
In September when Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson and his wife and business partner, Shannon "Summer" Wilson, announced they were ending their more than two-decade-long marriage, another tidbit captured pop culture's attention almost immediately: Chip Wilson is estimated to have a net worth of $6.1 billion and the pair reportedly does not have a prenuptial agreement, leaving the "who gets what" in their asset dissolution hanging in midair.
As advisors increasingly move toward more holistic approaches, having frank discussions about prenuptial agreements presents another opportunity to fill in a potential gap. The moment advisors can and should step in is when a client's money is about to become "ours."
Rather than be a bone of contention, a prenup can serve as "a loving document," meant to avoid "any more heartache," according to Amanda Rieman Sarago, an estate planning attorney at Hargrove Firm in Fairfax, Virginia.
Here are three myths advisors can debunk for their clients during a discussion about prenups.
"Nobody wants to have this conversation"
It is understandable to assume clients might hesitate to discuss prenups. However, even though many people presumably don't enter into a romantic relationship or partnership thinking about what might go wrong or how it might end, more people have begun to do just that.
A Harris poll from 2026 reported that of the 2,148 Americans surveyed, 53% of respondents under the age of 45 who were engaged or married had signed a prenup in the process.
For Rieman Sarago, the prenup discussion is sometimes initiated by parents ahead of time. The parents' line of thinking comes from an understanding: "One day if my child gets married and then they subsequently get divorced, I don't want an ex-spouse to get a windfall of my child's inheritance," she said.
In that instance, provisions are structured through a trust and estate planning.
"We call them lifetime protection trusts that keep it in the family," she said.
These trusts also weather certain potential life events that bring in creditors. such as lawsuits if there is a car accident.
According to Sarah Wotherspoon, managing director and advisor with Wealthspire in San Rafael, California, advisors can also ask a series of questions to start the dialogue and help the conversation flow:
- What have you been talking about around money with this new partner or potential spouse?
- What is the nature of the conversations?
- What is your understanding of your assets, debts and financial situation?
- What is your understanding of your partner's?
- What would the ideal approach to financial decision making look like for you?
"There's an income threshold"
Another long-held, mistaken assumption is that prenups are for people in certain tax brackets. It turns out that even couples who earn less than six figures annually have turned to prenups as financial insurance policies,
"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," said Wotherspoon. "Regardless of the income, you want to walk in with an understanding of 'here's where I am, here's where you are, here's what we are going to be thinking.'"
Other reasons for a prenup in this instance include creating protection for a stay-at-home parent for children or protecting a spouse's starter assets, such as a retirement account earned at a first job.
"It's only for newlyweds"
Erin Botsford of the Advisor Authority has a longstanding history of coaching advisors in helping clients prepare for life's pain points. To Botsford, the prenup discussion is no exception, and second marriages or remarriage also need to be factored in.
Botsford says advisors need to be comfortable asking current spouses what their plan says about assets and future spouses. The question to ask: "Is there a provision in your documents that says [they] have to sign a valid prenuptial agreement with [their next spouse or else they] lose all access to your half of the money?" she said in a webinar.
Typically, most clients have not thought that far out, which is where Botsford suggests a dose of humor could go a long way.
"Let's say I die tomorrow," she said. "My husband, Bob, we've been married 40 years. And I'll say, I'm dead [and now he's 86 and] dating a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. And again, it's just ridiculous. But I want to make it ridiculous because we're talking about dying."
Botsford said her son is the one who would enforce that if Bob "doesn't sign a prenuptial agreement with his next spouse, he loses access to my half of the money." And often, clients respond that they want that provision as well.
"When I personalize it, I make it funny," she said. "I make it funny on purpose."
And for couples who already have a prenup, the document may not stay put and advisors might find themselves revisiting and treating it as a living document as clients' lives change.
"Something is better than nothing," said Wotherspoon. "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good."
