TL;DR : For a long time the prenup carried one story: a wealthy person, usually a man, protecting himself from a partner. That story is out of date. At First, half of all prenuptial agreements are now initiated by women, and the people starting them are founders, physicians, teachers, nurses, artists, and couples in their early twenties who have student loans and a pet and a plan.
Our founder and CEO, Libby Leffler, joined Erica Lockheimer and Elizabeth on the HumanizeHer podcast to talk about what is driving this shift, what couples are protecting that has nothing to do with cash, and why a clear agreement can strengthen a marriage instead of straining it. Here is what she shared, with the data behind it, the moments worth watching, and what it means if you are thinking about a prenup of your own.
Embed: hero clip (0:00–0:40), or the full episode here.
Why are more women getting prenups? More women are starting prenups because the conversation around them has changed, and because women have more to protect than the old story assumed. Half of First's agreements are initiated by women, and the reason is less about fear of divorce and more about ownership: of income, of a business, of inheritance, of a future they are building on purpose.
Libby has written about this directly. In a Fortune commentary titled "The new power move: why smart women are demanding prenups," she points to a set of trends that line up: women are out-earning men in college degrees, single women own more homes than single men, and women stand to gain from a large generational transfer of wealth. Put together, those add up to a simple fact. More women have assets, and more women are deciding to define what happens to them.
On the podcast she put it plainly.
"Prenups are the power move. For smart, ambitious women." Libby Leffler, founder and CEO of First The other half of the shift is cultural. Public figures have started talking openly about money, marriage, and messy divorces, which has taken the taboo out of the subject. Libby compared the goal to what a few brands did for other once-private topics: she wants First to be the brand that normalizes the money conversation the way other companies normalized talking about periods and sex. When the conversation is normal, the agreement stops feeling like an accusation and starts feeling like planning.
Embed: clip (41:50–43:00), the 50% stat and why the conversation has shifted.
Here is the shape of who is actually starting these agreements at First.
Signal
Figure
Prenups initiated by women
50%
Agreements that include at least one pet
About 50%
Customers with student loans
About 1 in 3
Leading motivators
Inheritance, debt, a business, intellectual property
Availability
46 states plus Washington, D.C.
What can you actually include in a prenup? A prenup can cover almost any financial or property matter a couple wants to decide in advance: income and savings, debt, a business, inheritance, property, and increasingly the things that do not fit neatly into any of those boxes. The old picture of a prenup as a tool for the already-rich misses how much of modern life is an asset.
Asset type
What it can cover
Income and savings
What each person earns and keeps, and how shared finances work
Debt, including student loans
The obligations each person brought into the marriage
A pet
Care, expenses, and arrangements if the relationship ends
Inheritance
Family money or property a person expects to receive
A business or equity
A company, a stake, or startup equity one person holds
Intellectual property
A brand, a following, social handles, a creative catalog
Sentimental property
Art or family heirlooms that are hard to put a price on
Libby told a story on the show that captures the change better than any list. A content creator found First about nine days before her wedding and almost skipped a prenup entirely, because she did not own a house or a car and assumed she had nothing to protect.
"And then I realized I have my brand. I have my community. I have my social handles. I have all this stuff I'm building and investing in." Libby Leffler, recounting a First customer The couple did their agreement at home. As Libby described it, they bought a Trader Joe's dinner and sat on the couch and worked through it together, which is about as far from a tense law-office meeting as it gets.
Embed: clip (9:39–10:41), the creator who almost skipped her prenup.
Can you put a pet in a prenup? Yes. A pet can be written into a prenup, with terms for who keeps the animal, how expenses are handled, and what happens if the couple separates. It is common enough at First that nearly half of all agreements include at least one pet. Couples sometimes treat it the way they would treat any other shared responsibility they want to settle in advance, calmly and before there is any conflict to resolve.
Embed: clip (8:42–9:39), pets, student loans, and what modern assets look like.
What about student loans and other debt? About a third of First's customers carry student loans, so debt is one of the most common subjects couples address. Many people want to make clear what each partner brought into the marriage so that the obligations of one do not become a surprise for the other. Libby described customers who say they took on significant student debt before marriage and want their partner protected from it. How debt is treated depends on your situation and your state, which is one reason couples work through it with an attorney rather than guessing. First is not a law firm, and an agreement is the place to make these decisions deliberately.
How much does an online prenup cost, and what do you get? A traditional prenup can run around $5,000 per partner, close to $10,000 for a couple, and take three to six months. First replaces that with a flat fee per couple and a process that can move much faster, with lawyer review available the same day in many cases. On the podcast, Libby put the savings at more than $10,000 and two to three months of time. Fortune described the model as the TurboTax for prenups, which is a fair shorthand for what it does: you share your information once, the platform structures it correctly for your state, and an attorney can begin reviewing it for you the same afternoon.
Traditional route
First
Cost
About $5,000 per partner, near $10,000 a couple
One flat fee per couple
Time
3 to 6 months
Lawyer review as soon as the same day
Representation
Each person finds and hires a lawyer separately
Independent counsel for each party on one platform
Where
Law offices, scheduling around availability
Online, from home
If you choose a lawyer-reviewed agreement, each partner gets independent legal counsel through the platform. Your attorney reviews your information, answers your questions, explains your rights and trade-offs, and works with you toward a final version. You pick from attorneys available in your state, and First curates who works on the platform.
First offers a few packages depending on how much support you want. The Self-Serve package is the fastest and lowest-cost way to create an agreement online. The Lawyer Review package adds independent attorneys for both partners and is the most popular choice. Couples with more complex situations can work with First on a Bespoke agreement.
Embed: clip (5:59–6:26), the time and cost savings, plus 7:47–7:59 on same-day review.
Does getting a prenup mean you expect to divorce? No. A prenup is a conversation about money and values before marriage, not a prediction about how the marriage will end. This was the heart of the HumanizeHer conversation. Libby's framing is that the agreement is a foundation for honest communication, the kind of conversation most couples never sit down to have.
"It's a joining point, not a breaking point." Libby Leffler She described it as part of an essential personal stack, the set of things you simply do when you get engaged. You build a registry. You keep up with your health screenings. You sort out your finances together. In her words, "Get a mammogram. Get a prenup." The point is not that the agreement is dramatic. The point is that it is becoming ordinary.
We also care about the couples who go through the whole process and decide not to sign. Some reach the end, have the conversations, and conclude they do not want an agreement after all. We count that as a good outcome too. Our goal, as Libby put it, is for you to have the best legal agreement you never have to use.
"We really want this to be the very best legal agreement that you never have to use." Libby Leffler Embed: clip (37:10–38:00), joining point vs breaking point.
The founder behind First First exists because Libby spent two decades around the biggest financial decisions people make and noticed a gap. She was Sheryl Sandberg's first chief of staff at Facebook, where she worked from 2008 to 2015, after starting her career at Google. She went on to be a vice president at SoFi, where the focus was student loans and personal finance, and then a leader at Compass through its IPO, where the focus was home ownership. Both companies center on major money decisions. The one decision people made with the least planning was the one that combined all of their finances: marriage.
She left without a job lined up, which she admits was the scariest part, and started First with a newborn at home. The early company looked nothing like the highlight reel. She talked candidly on the show about the financial reality of founding a company after a corporate career, the years without a real paycheck, and the long hours that do not stop when you have small children. Fortune later reported First's $4 million seed round, led by Expa and Springbank with participation from Cleo Capital and Karman Ventures.
Two ideas from her own life shaped how she runs the company. The first is that she does not believe in work-life balance as it is usually sold. She thinks about alignment instead: whether each day matches her values and what matters most, rather than splitting time into equal halves. The second came from the hardest season of building First. While she was 33 weeks pregnant and in the middle of fundraising, her father died suddenly. She was clear that this is not a prescription for anyone else, but for her the rhythm of the work, the purpose, and the team became a kind of compass during a time she otherwise felt powerless.
"Reinvention is possible at every stage and every part of the journey." Libby Leffler It is a fitting line for a company built on the idea that planning ahead is an act of strength, not pessimism. You can read more about the team and the story behind First .
Embed: clip (51:45–53:17), on grief, resilience, and using work as a compass. Sensitive; use in long-form, not in short hard-sell cuts.
Watch the full conversation The full episode runs about an hour and covers all of this plus the founder journey in detail. If you want to jump to a specific moment:
Embed: full episode.
Frequently asked questions Why do women get prenups? Women get prenups to protect what they own and to define their financial future on their own terms. At First, half of all agreements are initiated by women, driven by income, a business, inheritance, intellectual property, and the debt each partner brought into the marriage.
What can you put in a prenup? A prenup can cover income and savings, debt including student loans, a business or equity, inheritance, property, and pets. Increasingly it also covers intellectual property such as a brand, a following, or a creative catalog.
Can you include a pet in a prenup? Yes. Pets can be written into a prenup, with terms for care, expenses, and what happens if the couple separates. Nearly half of First's agreements include at least one pet.
How much does a prenup cost with First? First charges a flat fee per couple rather than the roughly $5,000 per partner a traditional prenup can cost. The Self-Serve package is the lowest-cost option, and the Lawyer Review package adds independent attorneys for both partners.
How long does it take to get a prenup with First? Far less than the three to six months a traditional prenup can take. You can start in the morning and have lawyer review begin the same afternoon in many cases.
What states does First serve? First is available in 46 states plus Washington, D.C., with agreements structured for the rules of your state.
Start the conversation If a prenup has moved from "not for us" to "maybe we should," the next step is simple. See the packages and pricing , or start with the Self-Serve option or Lawyer Review packages and start today. You can also read how prenup rules vary by state before you begin.
