A prenuptial agreement is not a bet against your marriage. It is the operating agreement for a partnership — and business partners who pool a fraction of what spouses pool would never form one without it. The agreement forces something valuable in its own right: a transparent, dated inventory of the assets and debts each party brings in. That inventory is the evidence that decides, years later, what was separate property and what was not. A postnuptial agreement does the same job after the wedding, often prompted by an inheritance, a business stake, or a financial near-miss that clarified the stakes.
A prenup has limits, and a sloppy one is worse than none — it manufactures the illusion of protection. It cannot waive child support or pre-decide custody; those rights belong to the child, not to the spouses. Spousal-support waivers draw the closest judicial scrutiny. For the agreement to survive a challenge, each party needs independent legal counsel, full and honest financial disclosure, and freedom from duress — do not present the document the night before the wedding, when refusing to sign means canceling a catered event in front of 200 guests. Courts strike terms that were hidden, rushed, or unconscionable.