Prenuptial agreements, more commonly known as just ‘prenups,’ are fairly common these days, and for a good reason. If you have wealth and money, a business you’re proud of, or intellectual property that you want to keep as being your own, you don’t want to marry someone and have them take everything away if things go south. While you may not want to have those doubts in your mind, sometimes you’ll feel that it’s a precaution you just have to make.

That being said, there are some problems to prenuptial agreements you’ll want to consider, especially when it comes to protecting your physical property, and it’s these problems we’re going to explore in today’s guide.

1. Prenups are Usually One-Sided

A big problem with prenups is that usually, one person wants one to protect themselves and their assets, rather than two people trying to protect their own interests. In the case of real estate, this could mean you own a lot of property, whereas your partner owns very little, and you’re trying to prevent them from running off with half of it.

This means you’ll want to be careful when proceeding because if a court deems the prenups unfair when it comes around to dealing with them (hopefully never, but it can happen), then you could be missing out on the protection you agreed upon at the beginning.

The best way to stop this from happening is to make sure the balance is there when the prenups are first created and that it doesn’t seem as though your partner is being coerced into agreeing with the terms and conditions of the prenups but rather finds the terms balanced.

In short, prenups are not always legally binding, and if they’re deemed unfair in court, then your property may not be protected.

2. Prenups Can Be Expensive

And we mean very expensive.

Getting a prenup drawn up in the first place can be expensive because you’ll want lawyers and mediators involved to make sure it’s all being carried out properly and everything is fair and legally acceptable. However, if the divorce comes through and you end up in court discussing the prenup, then you’re going to need to pay for family lawyers and a court case, and this can just be too much.

In terms of protecting your real estate, you could end spending so much on legal fees that you need to sell some assets in order to afford it, or if you want the legal proceedings to end fast, then you may need to compromise and give up some of what you own.

3. Prenups Can Cause Divorces (Or Increase Their Likelihood)

One of the major problems that come with getting prenups in the first place is that it’s commonly known that having a prenup can increase your likelihood of getting a divorce in the first place. This makes sense as getting a prenup means that you don’t fully trust that person with all your heart, and so on, and this can cause relationship problems.

Sure, those problems may not materialize now, but they can definitely be built upon and become a major concern in the future. If this happens, which it does, this means the prenuptial agreement may need to be actioned, and you can end up in court trying to resolve everything.

Your partner may then try to fight your agreement, and if they have reasonable rights to do so, such as c0mmitting adultery or having children to look after, then your real estate could be threatened. Sometimes, although you can’t tell without hindsight, it can be better for your relationship not to get a prenup.

Summary

As you can see, prenups are far from foolproof, and you’ll need to be proactive in making sure that you’re considering the problems that can come with getting a prenup and whether it’s a worthwhile investment. There are certainly benefits, but ensuring you’re thinking it through carefully before starting to get one in place.