Americans Split on Prenuptial Agreements, According to New Thomson West Poll

Eighty percent of Americans willing to at least consider prenups

EAGAN, Minn., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Would you sign a prenuptial
agreement before you say, "I do"? A new survey by Thomson West, a leading
legal information solutions provider, finds that Americans are evenly split on
the issue, but are open to at least considering a prenup.
Forty-one percent of Americans say they might sign a prenuptial or
postnuptial agreement if their spouse or partner asked them to. An equal
percentage -- 41 percent -- said they likely would not sign an agreement.
Eighteen percent said they weren't sure what they would do in such a
situation.
Men are more willing than women to sign a prenuptial or postnuptial
agreement -- 44 percent of men said they would definitely or probably sign,
while only 38 percent of women said they would.
But with half of all marriages ending in divorce, a majority of Americans
appear to be willing to at least consider the idea of a prenuptial or
postnuptial agreement. Only 20 percent of those surveyed said they would
"definitely not" sign a prenup or postnup.
While many people associate these agreements with the rich and famous,
legal experts say there are many situations where such an agreement may be
prudent, including situations involving family-owned businesses, and marriages
where one or both spouses have children from previous marriages.
The Thomson West survey found that when asked if they would sign a
prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, American adults said:
-- Yes, definitely (14%)
-- Yes, maybe (27%)
-- No, probably not (21%)
-- No, definitely not (20%)
-- Not sure (18%)

The survey used a demographically balanced sample of 1,000 American adults
nationwide, and results are accurate within plus or minus 3 percent.
NOTE TO EDITORS: The survey was conducted for Thomson West by Ipsos North
America and full results are available upon request.
SOURCE Thomson West

John Shaughnessy of Thomson West, 1-800-778-8090, ext. 74749,
john.shaughnessy@thomson.com