Every Married Couple Has a Prenup.

A prenup is really just a set of rules that defines your financial relationship both during and, if necessary, after marriage. You either write your own prenup, OR you are accepting the default prenup written by your state.

Here’s the thing – If you had to actually sign the default prenup – like if the default prenup were sitting there next to a customizable prenup, and you had to choose one of them to sign, nobody would pick the default prenup? Why?

The Confusing Nature of the Default Prenup

It’s confusing. Our entire lives, if your name is on an account, you own it. If your name is not on an account, you don’t own it, it sounds silly, but it’s so obvious to say. But once you get married, the default prenup says whose name is on an account or a piece of property doesn’t matter – that no longer defines who owns what. Your paycheck is considered joint property. Everything you buy with that paycheck is joint property.

And of course, the money you earn during your marriage is going to get mixed in with everything you already had coming in – some of your paycheck goes into your checking, your savings, your retirement, your condo, your car, your business. Now everything you owned coming in is mixed with marital property and it’s all up for division.