I suppose the first question is, does your state even honor prenuptial agreements? If you think you’ll be divorcing in a state where prenuptials are ignored by the courts, I guess this whole article is irrelevant. To be safe though, in case you move to a state like Florida, where pre-nups are considered rock-solid contracts and are almost always followed to the letter (except where children are concerned), pre-nups are a good idea.

But when should you bother having one drafted? Here’s my opinion:

1) On a second or subsequent marriage. Sad but true, about 70% of all second marriages fail. (The good news is that only about 20% of all first marriages fail, despite what you’ve heard. You can check me on this with several sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau.) If the odds of marital failure are that high, you probably ought to consider doing a pre-nup. Plus, people going into second or third marriages usually have assets (or debts), so you might as well define how the assets and debts are going to be split while you like each other rather than in a divorce when you might hate each other.

2) When you want to eliminate or set an amount of alimony. When I draw up pre-nups, the couple almost always agrees to eliminate alimony. Alimony is, in my experience, the biggest reason for an acrimonious divorce. It’s awful to say, but people will give up lots of visitation before they’ll give up or pay alimony by agreement. You can increase the odds of a peaceful divorce immensely by putting an alimony clause in a pre-nup.

3) When one person owns a business prior to the marriage, especially where the other may work (or is already working) in the business. Businesses can easily become “family businesses” (read: marital property) if the owning spouse isn’t careful. Better to get this issue cleared up in a pre-nup then to fight over losing half of a business in a divorce.

4) When an inheritance is expected. In Florida at least, inheritance is usually not considered “marital property,” but there are many exceptions to this rule, and many ways to turn an inheritance from nonmarital into marital property. A pre-nup can solve this issue from outset.

5) When one person is wealthier or older than the other. This is the classic situation, and the one in which people obviously think of when they think of the need for a pre-nup. This is also the situation where the grown children say, “Dad [or mom] is getting married to a much younger person, so it’s time to go get a pre-nup.” It’s also probably a good time for the wealthier or older person to have his or her will examined. A spouse can get much more out of a will than a divorce, and it’s common for a younger spouse to stall a divorce case so that an older spouse can die, thus avoiding the effects of a divorce judgment or a pre-nup.