Some Ohio couples may think of prenuptial agreements as largely being about how property will be split in case of a divorce. This is one reason people might be more likely to want a prenup if they are older and going into a second marriage, but prenups can offer other valuable protections as well, including for children from former marriages.

Many older couples may have accumulated significant assets that they want to protect if the marriage does not work out. A prenup can help ensure that they leave the marriage with the same assets they brought into it.

A prenup can also be used for retirement planning. For example, if both people have a 401(k), the prenup might specify which one, if either, they will primarily use for support. If both people have adult children, they might also want to discuss how they hope to continue offering them financial assistance and include that in the prenup. Prenups may also include an agreement to create estate plans after the marriage that have certain elements. One concern for people in second marriages might be ensuring that assets go both to spouses and to their children if they die. Some types of trusts can make distributions to a surviving spouse and then pass to children after the surviving spouse’s death.

Investments, a business and real estate might be among the assets some people want to protect in case of a divorce. While the process of dividing property in divorce distinguishes between assets a person brings to a marriage and those acquired during it, if an asset’s value has appreciated since the marriage, that value could be subject to division in a divorce if there is no prenuptial agreement. A prenup can also help ensure that the process is more straightforward and the outcome more predictable.