Dec 18, 2025
While they date back to ancient Egypt, most people first learn about prenuptial agreements when they read about celebrity marriages and divorces.
But these legally binding “love contracts” have also been growing in popularity among everyday people, especially as accessibility improves. HelloPrenup, an online platform that charges a flat, one-time fee of $599 per couple and accounts for 20% of the American prenup market, says the average salary of its users is $92,000 while the average debt they hold is about $78,000.
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A 2022 survey by The Harris Poll found that four in 10 American adults (42%) support the use of prenuptial agreements, while 35% of those who are unmarried say they’re likely to sign a prenup in the future (1). Meanwhile, 45% of Gen Z and millennials surveyed by Ally Bank said they’re also likely to consider a prenup before getting married (2).
While many Americans likely believe prenups are about protecting oneself financially by overriding some marital property laws, that’s not all they can be used for. As reports of a “cocaine clause” or "sobriety clause” in actress Nicole Kidman and musician Keith Urban’s prenup indicate, these documents can contain all sorts of deals, promises and conditions.
Saying ‘I do’ to prenup clauses
A standard prenup typically includes clauses that address things like property and debt division, alimony, inheritances and death. These typically decide who gets what assets if the marriage were to end in death or divorce, but couples don’t have to limit themselves to these specific clauses.
In fact, there are some unusual clauses that can be added to a standard prenup. One example is the embryo clause — as reproductive science develops and fertility treatments become more common, there can be conflict over what happens to embryos when a marriage falls apart.
In 2020, Stephanie Nelson received a devastating call from her fertility clinic, which revealed that her husband had requested the destruction of embryos the couple created through in vitro fertilization (IVF). What followed was a legal battle that cost Nelson $10,000 and lasted years, according to The Wall Street Journal (3).
“Right now we have no idea, is an embryo property or is it a person?” Nicky Rooz, a New York divorce attorney, told the Journal. “Is it custody you’re fighting over or what?”
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Nelson eventually won in court and is now pregnant with twins. But with the average age of marriage rising and over a million embryos currently stored in U.S. facilities, it’s likely this will be an area that will need more legal clarity in the coming years.
In the meantime, individuals who want to protect their embryos or other reproductive property in the event of divorce and avoid going to court over the matter would be wise to include the embryo clause in a prenuptial agreement.
“You know, we have seen disastrous cases,” HelloPrenup CEO and former divorce attorney Julia Rodgers told Moneywise. “There were some really notable ones across the country in the last five years where couples just sign off on these forms at the IVF clinic. They don't even know what they're signing, only to come to find out upon a divorce that they waived their rights to this reproductive material.
“And it can be heartbreaking. I mean, there are circumstances where you see people lose access to embryos and not be able to have children after that point.”
Rodgers warned that some unusual prenup clauses may not be enforceable depending on the state. For example, the infidelity clause — one of the most popular clauses on HelloPrenup — requires a cheating partner to pay an agreed upon sum if the marriage were to end in divorce. But according to Prenup Specialist, states like California and Florida that have no-fault divorce laws may not uphold an infidelity clause in a prenup (4).
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Similar lifestyle prenup clauses may be related to other aspects of behavior, like substance abuse or weight gain. In fact, the social media clause establishes boundaries on what partners can post and share online during the marriage and after divorce.
Kira Abernathy, a family law attorney, recently shared with Vice News that the most unusual prenup clause she’s seen was based on pet custody — $2,500 a month for a French Bulldog’s care and a yearly $5,000 “enrichment fund” for training and toys (5).
“These unusual clauses reflect how couples are trying to protect not just their assets, but their expectations for marriage itself,” said Abernathy. “They rarely hold up exactly as written, but they can completely shift divorce negotiations.”
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The unexpected benefit of a prenup
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of prenups is not the final document itself, but the conversations that it may prompt.
“So when you're co-creating a prenup, when you're negotiating these terms, there are going to be a lot of conversations that you have that maybe don't make it into the prenup, but they're still really important conversations to have because it ensures that you and your partner are becoming aligned prior to marriage,” said Rodgers.
She likes to remind people that a prenuptial agreement is just as much an emotional document as it is a legal one.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
The Harris Poll (1); Ally Bank (2); The Wall Street Journal (3); Prenup Specialist (4); Vice News (5)
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Deborah D'Souza is an associate editor at Moneywise. Earlier in her career, she spearheaded a sustainable investing newsletter for the Case Impact Network, run by impact investing pioneer Jean Case. She also helped develop and produce The Express newsletter for Investopedia.
