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Oct 4th, 2005

More women seeking prenuptial agreements

Traditionally, men have always been more likely to seek a prenuptial agreement, but more women are becoming insistent upon the marriage agreements.

Experts think as women become an increasingly dominant force it will become more common for the women to seek prenuptial agreements.  Women are also entering marriage later in their life than in the past, and they have assets and stock options and other bargaining power that women did not have as often in the past.

Because prenups do not have to be filed in court, no one is really sure how many exist, but informal research shows that a greater percentage of couples entering marriage consider them.  A prenup can be a way for couples to set their own guidelines instead of risking it later on divorce laws that often fail to consider individual circumstances.

According to Courtney Knowles, a spokesman for the non-profit Equality in Marriage Institute in New York City, interest in prenups has been soaring.  The group provides information on relationships, marriages and divorces, and in 2003, they averaged 1,500 inquiries a month about prenups.  By 2004, the number increased to about 4,000. 

Still, Knowles said that studies by his group in 2002 and 2004 had the same results, with 65 percent of the 1,000 people sampled answering they would be opposed to a prenup.  Many couples have certain religious or conservative beliefs that resist prenups, but many experts still believe as the dynamic in marriages shifts, more prenups will be drawn up.

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