Real estate a top factor behind growing number of millennials’ signing prenups

They may be late bloomers, but millennials are playing it safe and smart about assets as they tie the knot.

A survey of lawyers found that millennial couples, who are often delaying marriage years longer than previous generations, are increasingly signing prenuptial agreements with real estate and alimony being the key issues under negotiation before entering into their marriage, according to the New York Times.

In a contested divorce in New York, any assets acquired over the course of the marriage are divided between the two parties based on their contributions to the union. Even in the event that both spouses agree to split the spoils of matrimony down the middle, determining the weighting of each asset in accordance with their contribution can be a long and subjective process–as evidenced in Harry and Linda Macklowe’s recent blockbuster divorce trial.

In California and Texas, both community property states, all assets acquired during the marriage are required to be divided up 50-50.

“It’s not about what the value is today; it’s what the value is going to be in the future,” said Louis Cannataro of Cannataro Park Avenue Financial to the Times. Many of his millennial clients want to specify that future gains on an investment property will accrue to them alone, not their partnership. [NYT]—Erin Hudson