Prenuptial agreements are fairly common in marriages where one person earns an awful lot more than the other, but what happens when one person gives up their career to care for children?
One woman has been left questioning exactly that, after her husband-to-be announced he wanted them to sign a prenup, despite the fact they'd already agreed for her to give up work to become a stay at home mum.
The couple agreed it was important to them for one parent to stay at home as they both had absent parents due to work and "felt neglected" in their childhoods, so wanted to ensure it would be different for their own kids.
"We decided I'd be the parent to stay home because he has a much higher paid job which is enough to support a family on, which I'm alright with it because having a parent at home is something that's really important to the both of us," the 25-year-old woman wrote on Reddit's AITA forum.
"However, we made the mistake of not discussing the topic of prenups previously. He assumed because he comes from a rich family and has a highly paid job, I'd automatically understand that a prenup was expected. Whereas I didn't expect anything because I genuinely forgot all about that topic, which was probably ditzy of me.
"I am just so in love with this guy and want to marry him that I didn’t think anything of the what-if-we-break-up situation which was naive of me, I know."
The woman told her future hubby, 28, that she doesn't want a prenup as she'll be giving up her career to raise the children, meaning she'd be left with absolutely nothing financially if they ever were to split up.
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"I come from a poor background so my parents wouldn't be able to support me aside from letting me and my kid(s) sleep on their 2-seater couch, which isn't a good look for custody agreements," she continued.
"So I gave him a compromise that I'd sign the prenup but I wouldn't quit my job to be a stay at home mum, but he still insists that I sign the prenup and be a stay at home mum."
The woman then turned to Reddit to question whether she was justified in refusing to both sign the prenup and agree to give up her career.
"So he wants you to give up your financial independence in order to raise a family with him, but also wants to make sure you're not legally entitled to any of his wealth should things not work out? Absolutely to NOT sign this," one Reddit user commented.
Another added: "Be careful. Him wanting to leave you with nothing might be an indication of how he'll feel about finances while you're married. If you’re going to be a stay at home mum, is he going to share finances and give you full control over money that you'll need for yourself and the kids? Or is he going to act like it's all his money and you aren’t doing anything to contribute?
"Take care of yourself. A prenup isn't a bad thing, but him wanting to leave you with nothing after insisting you give up your career is concerning."
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