Prinug—ttinagnda aonpirtenup— Once frowned upon as unromantic, prenuptial agreements are becoming the rope that ties the knot By Vicki Larson “ Debra” and her fiancé were on the same page—they wanted a prenuptial agreement, a legal contract in which a couple agrees to what will happen to their assets in case of divorce. She was in her early 30s and this was her first marriage but his second. “It was a mess,” she says of her fiancé’s divorce from the mother of his four children. The North Bay resident who prefers to use a pseudonym found the process of drafting a prenup illuminating. “It definitely opened up conversations that we might not have otherwise had,” she says. “I got a better perspective on how people think about money, observing how they interact around these topics, things they get agitated about, things they get passionate about. I think you learn a lot.” During the course of their nine-year marriage and the birth of their child, their financial roles flip-flopped, and she eventually became the breadwinner. “I understand why my attorney fought so hard to make sure that I was entitled to alimony in the prenup because [my fiancé] wanted me to waive it. It is interesting how when your situation changes, you have a different perspective on it,” she says. When she decided she wanted a divorce, she ended up being the one offering a buyout.
46 NorthBay biz
February 2024
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