We're excited to share that First has been featured in The New Yorker, in a comprehensive article examining the dramatic shift in how Gen Z and millennials approach prenuptial agreements.
Why Modern Couples Need Prenups The New Yorker's reporting reveals several key reasons why prenups have become essential for today's engaged couples:
Protecting Against Student Debt Complications : With Millennials and Gen Z accounting for nearly 40% and 30% of the country's $1.8 trillion in student loan debt, prenups help clarify financial responsibilities . As Professor Elizabeth Carter explains in the article, without a prenup, paying off pre-marriage student loans with marital funds could result in reimbursing your spouse for a portion post-divorce.
The Great Wealth Transfer : With baby boomers passing down an unprecedented $60-120 trillion to their children, families want to ensure inherited assets remain protected. Prenups provide peace of mind for both couples and their parents.
Financial Transparency and Education : Creating a prenup forces couples to have crucial conversations about money, assets, and expectations before marriage. At First, we know these are discussions that strengthen relationships rather than threaten them.
Prenups as Financial Empowerment The article captures an important cultural shift: prenups are increasingly being seen as tools for young professional women to help them take charge of their finances. Personal finance influencer Vivian Tu (Your Rich BFF) and reality TV personality Bethenny Frankel have both publicly advocated for prenups, with Frankel's divorce battle serving as a cautionary tale.
This represents a dramatic departure from outdated stereotypes of prenups as tools for wealthy men protecting assets from less-monied wives. Today's prenups are about partnership, transparency, and mutual protection.
Not Just Planning for Divorce One key insight from The New Yorker's article is that modern prenups aren't just about preparing for divorce. Rather, they're about creating a framework for financial decision-making throughout the marriage.
As divorce attorney Patricia Hennessey observes in the article, while you need a big manual and a test to drive a car in New York, to get married you just "pay thirty-five dollars to the clerk and they say, 'Good luck.'" Prenups provide the roadmap that marriage licenses don't.
The New Yorker's piece chronicles how the pandemic accelerated the digitization of prenup services, with couples seeking alternatives to in-person lawyer visits. This shift created space for innovative platforms like First to reimagine how prenuptial agreements are created and executed.
Who Benefits from Prenups? While the article explores whether prenups truly serve average couples or primarily benefit high earners, experts at Her Justice, a nonprofit providing legal services to women in poverty, note important benefits even for those without significant assets:
Protection from coerced debt taken out by a spouse without knowledgeReduced litigation costs by establishing clear agreements upfrontProtection from abusive litigation tactics used by vengeful ex-spousesFirst: Leading the Modern Prenup Movement The New Yorker article spotlights First's founder, Libby Leffler, and her vision for making prenups accessible and empowering for today's couples. As Leffler wrote in her Fortune op-ed quoted in the article:
"We would never launch a startup without equity agreements or join a company without understanding our compensation package. Why are any of us willing to say 'I do' without a clear financial framework?"
The article notes that First publicly launched in 2024 with Professor Elizabeth Carter, a matrimonial law expert from Louisiana State University, serving as an advisor. Carter's and other family law specialists’ expertise helps ensure that First's platform addresses real concerns facing modern couples, from student loan debt allocation to protecting premarital assets.
Starting Your Prenup Conversation The New Yorker's piece reinforces what we've always believed at First: the conversation about a prenup is itself valuable, revealing how a couple will approach money, fairness, and their future together throughout the duration of their marriage.
Whether you're protecting inherited assets, managing student loan debt, planning entrepreneurial ventures, or simply want clarity about your financial partnership, a prenup provides the framework for those essential discussions.
Ready to Start Your Prenup? At First, we're proud to be part of the movement making prenuptial agreements accessible, empowering, and normal for modern couples. Our platform combines legal expertise with user-friendly technology to help you create a prenup that protects both partners and strengthens your relationship.
Because saying "I do" should include saying "I understand": about finances, expectations, and all of the surprises that may come.
Learn more about how First can help you create a prenup that works for your relationship at thisfirst.com .
Read the full New Yorker article to explore the fascinating history of prenuptial agreements and the cultural forces reshaping how Millennials and Gen Z approach marriage and money.
