Beyoncé & Jay-Z: Married for 18 years, their billion-dollar love story reportedly came with a suitably serious prenup. Image source: Pinterest

For richer, for poorer: why many modern brides are saying yes to the pre-nup

For decades, asking for a pre-nup was seen as planning for failure. So why are relationship experts now arguing it makes marriages stronger? Vicky Jessop explores

25 AUGUST 2026

by Vicky Jessop

Beyoncé & Jay-Z: Married for 18 years, their billion-dollar love story reportedly came with a suitably serious prenup. Image source: Pinterest

Last year a friend of mine told me she’d asked her fiancé for a pre-nup. She’s successful, independent and every inch a modern-day feminist. As someone who was planning my own wedding at the time, I'd always thought of pre-nups as something ultra-wealthy men did as a power move. To be honest, I immediately assumed she’d been gaslit into thinking it was her idea. But then she gave me her reasoning - and it made me question everything I’d thought before about pre-nups.

 

Not so long ago, asking that question might have felt like planning for failure. Today, it reflects a broader shift in how many couples are approaching marriage. 

 

As couples marry later, with more established careers, property and financial independence than previous generations, pre-nuptial agreements are moving firmly into the mainstream. They're no longer just for celebrities or billionaires - increasingly, they're for women with pensions, businesses, inheritances and homes who see protecting what they've built as entirely compatible with building a life together.

And the numbers reflect that change. One in five couples who have married in recent years signed a pre-nup - a dramatic increase over the past few decades - while 60% of unmarried 18 to 35-year-olds say they’d consider it. What was once viewed as a sign of mistrust is increasingly being reframed as something else: one of the healthiest conversations a couple can have before saying “I do”.

Rather than being viewed as cold or calculated, a pre-nup has become a framework for conversations couples might otherwise avoid: career breaks, childcare, financial planning and what fairness looks like over the course of a marriage. 

 

For Molly, who got married in 2024, signing a pre-nup felt like an obvious step. “It was one of the most awkward conversations we’d had, but I’m very glad we did it,” she says. “We’re both high earners with high savings, and my husband has a much bigger pension than me.”

Last year a friend of mine told me she’d asked her fiancé for a pre-nup. She’s successful, independent and every inch a modern-day feminist. As someone who was planning my own wedding at the time, I'd always thought of pre-nups as something ultra-wealthy men did as a power move. To be honest, I immediately assumed she’d been gaslit into thinking it was her idea. But then she gave me her reasoning - and it made me question everything I’d thought before about pre-nups.

 

Not so long ago, asking that question might have felt like planning for failure. Today, it reflects a broader shift in how many couples are approaching marriage. 

 

As couples marry later, with more established careers, property and financial independence than previous generations, pre-nuptial agreements are moving firmly into the mainstream. They're no longer just for celebrities or billionaires - increasingly, they're for women with pensions, businesses, inheritances and homes who see protecting what they've built as entirely compatible with building a life together.

And the numbers reflect that change. One in five couples who have married in recent years signed a pre-nup - a dramatic increase over the past few decades - while 60% of unmarried 18 to 35-year-olds say they’d consider it. What was once viewed as a sign of mistrust is increasingly being reframed as something else: one of the healthiest conversations a couple can have before saying “I do”.

Rather than being viewed as cold or calculated, a pre-nup has become a framework for conversations couples might otherwise avoid: career breaks, childcare, financial planning and what fairness looks like over the course of a marriage. 

 

For Molly, who got married in 2024, signing a pre-nup felt like an obvious step. “It was one of the most awkward conversations we’d had, but I’m very glad we did it,” she says. “We’re both high earners with high savings, and my husband has a much bigger pension than me.”

Previous generations often married into financial security. Today’s women increasingly arrive with their own.

Previous generations often married into financial security. Today’s women increasingly arrive with their own.

Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce: Newlyweds in 2026, with a mega prenup rumoured to protect two very sizeable and separate fortunes. Image source: Pinterest

Psychotherapist Lucy Beresford has seen interest among her millennial clients rise sharply in recent years.

 

“I think it's partly due to the way they approach relationships,” she says. “They’re often more practical and level-headed, perhaps because they've seen how previous generations - particularly women - were sometimes financially short-changed.” 

 

Previous generations often married into financial security, Beresford argues. Today’s women increasingly arrive with their own.

“Women are taking control of their careers, their fertility and their sexual pleasure - they're going to take control of their finances as well,” she says. “They’re booking an appointment with a financial advisor alongside their dress fitting. It’s becoming a more natural part of planning a marriage.”

For some women, it’s also a chance to find out more about their partner’s attitudes towards money - like 33-year-old Kristina, who entered into her marriage with more assets than her husband,

 

“I think it’s one of the smartest things couples can do because it challenges them to have a really honest financial conversation,” she says. “There's a misconception that you're setting yourself up for divorce, when in fact, I think you're setting yourself up for honesty.”

 

Behavioural psychologist and relationship counsellor Jo Hemmings agrees. “These types of conversations can be fundamental to having a healthy, enduring relationship,” she says. “And remember, you have the conversation once and then it’s done. It’s unlikely to become an ongoing source of resentment.”

None of that means a pre-nup is right for every couple. Like every aspect of planning a marriage, it’s a deeply personal decision shaped by individual circumstances, values and finances. It’s also worth noting that pre-nuptial agreements aren’t automatically legally binding in the UK, although judges increasingly uphold them if they're considered fair and both parties entered into them freely.

Perhaps the question has changed. A pre-nup is no longer asking, “What happens if we separate?” Increasingly, it’s asking something far more optimistic: “How do we build a marriage that feels fair from day one?”

 

After all, what’s sexier than being able to enter a relationship as equals? The pre-nup is just an extension of that – perhaps it’s time to give it the credit it deserves. 

Catherine Zeta-Jones & Michael Douglas: Married for 25 years, their famously hard-fought prenup has proved rather more enduring than the headlines around it. Image source: Pinterest

Brooklyn Beckham & Nicola Peltz: Married for four years, the couple reportedly signed a substantial prenup ahead of their £3 million Palm Beach wedding.

 

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