The Prenup Stigma Was Built by Divorce Lawyers — Not Romance

Prenuptial agreements carry a reputation for being "unromantic" — but that stigma has a paper trail.

Before no-fault divorce laws spread in the 1970s, contested divorces were highly lucrative for litigation attorneys. Prenups, by contrast, reduced the complexity (and billing) of any future dissolution. Bar associations in several states historically cautioned against lay-drafted prenups, framing professional involvement as consumer protection — while also protecting professional revenue.

Pop culture did the rest: decades of films and TV scripts equated a prenup with expecting the marriage to fail. The stigma became self-reinforcing.

What research actually shows: couples who explicitly discuss financial expectations early report significantly lower financial conflict later in the relationship. A prenup is, structurally, a co-authored financial charter — closer to a partnership agreement than a divorce plan.

The manufactured discomfort around prenups keeps couples financially unprepared during marriage and vulnerable during dissolution. The main beneficiary is the litigation industry, not the couple.