"Prenups Are Only for Rich People" — and 4 Other Myths That Could Cost You

Five myths stop most Canadian couples from getting a prenup. Not cost, not complexity — myths about who needs one, whether it holds up, what it signals about the relationship, and what would happen without one. Here's what's actually true, with the research behind each one.

Myth 1: "Prenups are only for rich people"

The prenup stereotype is a wealthy older man protecting a fortune from a much younger spouse. That image was never representative and is now actively misleading.

The median combined net worth of HelloPrenup users — people who have already decided to get a prenup — is approximately $78,000. Not wealthy. Not starting from zero. Solidly middle. LawDepot data shows 64% of people agree prenups should apply to all income levels. Student debt has become the number-one or number-two motivation for millennials and Gen Z seeking prenups, cited by roughly 40% of that group — specifically to protect a partner from their debt, not the other way around.

The Canada-specific reality: the average Canadian woman entering marriage in her early 30s has accumulated meaningful individual assets — condo equity, pension credits, RRSP and TFSA balances, sometimes business equity. Ontario's matrimonial home rule means a condo worth $900,000 with $350,000 in pre-marriage equity enters equalization entirely without a marriage contract. The "only for rich people" assumption protects the person with more assets at the expense of the person with fewer.

RBC Economics found that single women without children now have a slightly higher net worth than single men without children — approximately $250,000 versus $230,000 — precisely the demographic most likely to marry in their early 30s. Prenups aren't for the wealthy. They're for anyone who has built something and wants to define what happens to it.

Myth 2: "Getting a prenup means you expect to get divorced"

If you're planning for something, you must be expecting it. Planning for a car crash means expecting a car crash. The logic is intuitive and completely wrong.

You have car insurance not because you plan to crash. You have life insurance not because you plan to die soon. You have a will not because you expect to die imminently. Every financial planning tool works this way — except prenups, where people apply the inverse logic. The UK Marriage Foundation conducted the first large-scale study on prenups and divorce likelihood and found that couples with prenups were no more or less likely to divorce than those without. No published empirical study anywhere has demonstrated that getting a prenup increases the likelihood of divorce.

The Canada-specific reality: a marriage contract governs two events, not one. Across Canada, the property division rules triggered by separation also apply when a spouse dies — the specific mechanism varies by province, but the principle is consistent. In Ontario, for example, under s. 5(2) of the Family Law Act R.S.O. 1990, equalization of net family property is triggered when a spouse dies as well as when couples separate. Every provision in a marriage contract that applies at divorce also applies at death. Framing a prenup as divorce planning misses that it's simultaneously estate planning — particularly important for blended families and anyone with children from a prior relationship.

Harvard research found that people correctly estimate the national divorce rate at roughly 50%, but rate their own personal risk at only 11.7%. A prenup conversation isn't about expecting divorce. It's about acknowledging that nearly 90% of people who end up divorced also believed they never would.

Myth 3: "Prenups don't hold up in court anyway"

People hear about prenups being thrown out in high-profile cases. Courts do set agreements aside. The conclusion drawn — that the whole exercise is pointless — does not follow from the evidence.

Practitioners estimate that 85–90% of properly drafted and executed prenups survive challenge in Canada. The ones that don't hold up almost always fail for procedural reasons: inadequate financial disclosure, absent Independent Legal Advice, or last-minute signing under pressure. They rarely fail because courts object to what the agreement says. Dougherty v. Dougherty (2016 ONCA 781) made this explicit for Ontario: a court cannot set aside a marriage contract simply because the outcome is unequal. There must be a procedural defect.

The Supreme Court of Canada established in Hartshorne v. Hartshorne (2004 SCC 22) that prenups should be the "starting point" for a court's analysis and that courts should be "reluctant to second-guess" agreements made with legal advice. Canadian courts aren't hostile to prenups. They're sceptical of agreements signed under pressure, without disclosure, or without genuine independent legal advice — because the process behind those agreements suggests the consent wasn't real.

A 2003 Ontario Superior Court decision stated that upholding a marriage contract where one party had no ILA would be "the exception and not the rule." For the full picture of what makes a prenup enforceable in Canada, that article covers all the grounds courts use to set agreements aside.

Myth 4: "Prenups are unromantic"

Marriage is framed as an act of total commitment and faith. A contract implies contingency planning. Contingency planning implies doubt. The emotional logic is coherent — and empirically backwards.

Gottman Institute research on marriage and financial health consistently finds that financial transparency — honesty about money, clear shared agreements about finances — is one of the strongest predictors of relationship stability. Financial conflict is the single strongest predictor of divorce in the Gottman data, more powerful than other types of conflict. A marriage contract that requires complete mutual financial disclosure and a structured conversation about money, assets, and future expectations is, on the evidence, a relationship-strengthening exercise. HelloPrenup's survey data found that 84% of couples reported feeling closer after the prenup process.

The "unromantic" framing is also historically specific. The Jewish ketubah is a prenuptial financial agreement that has been a required part of religious marriage for over 2,000 years. Islamic mahr functions similarly across many traditions. Medieval European dower agreements predate the modern wedding industry by centuries. The idea that financial planning is incompatible with romantic commitment is a 20th-century cultural artifact, not a timeless truth — and it arrived specifically in the decades when women were financially dependent on their husbands, making an agreement unnecessary. That era is over.

61% of Canadians think prenups are a smart financial decision, according to a Willful/Angus Reid survey. Only 35% have or would want one. The gap between what people intellectually accept and what they're willing to do is a framing problem, not a values problem.

Myth 5: "It doesn't matter — everything gets split 50/50 anyway"

"50/50" is the default mental model for fairness at divorce. If everything splits evenly regardless, why bother negotiating terms?

In Ontario, the Family Law Act creates equalization of net family property — a specific calculation that compares what each spouse brought into the marriage with what they hold at separation, finds the difference, and transfers half that difference to the lower-NFP spouse. Pre-marriage assets are excluded from equalization. Inheritances received during the marriage are excluded — if kept separate from joint assets. Gifts are excluded. The result can look nothing like 50/50 of total assets. It's a formula that accounts for what each person brought in, applied to what grew during the marriage.

The critical exception — and the one that catches most people off guard — is the matrimonial home. Under s. 4(1) of the Family Law Act, a home that becomes the matrimonial home cannot have pre-marital equity deducted, even if one spouse owned it entirely before the marriage. A condo purchased for $600,000 before marriage, worth $950,000 at separation, with $300,000 still outstanding on the mortgage — the owning spouse's pre-marriage equity of $300,000 is not excluded. The full $650,000 in equity enters equalization. Without a marriage contract, there is no mechanism to protect what was built before the relationship.

The rules also differ materially by province. British Columbia treats pre-relationship assets as excluded property under the Family Law Act SBC 2011, with only growth during the relationship subject to division. Alberta uses equitable distribution, not equal. The "50/50" assumption doesn't describe what the law actually does in any Canadian province.

The default rules weren't written for your specific assets, your specific situation, or your specific agreement about what's fair. A marriage contract is the mechanism the law provides to write those rules yourselves.

The myth that isn't listed

There's a sixth assumption worth naming: that you already know what the default rules are. Most couples who skip a prenup because they "trust the system" have never read the Family Law Act and don't know what it actually does to their condo, their pension, or their business at separation. The rules exist whether or not anyone has thought about them. They apply automatically to every marriage. A prenup isn't a departure from that system — it's using the option the system explicitly provides to define your own terms while you're on the same side.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who actually needs a prenup in Canada?

Anyone where the default Family Law Act rules would produce an outcome different from what both partners would choose if they sat down and thought about it together. The most common situations: owning property before marriage (especially in Ontario given the matrimonial home rule), having a defined-benefit pension, owning a business, carrying a significant debt or income gap, or entering a second marriage with children from a prior relationship. See should I get a prenup for the full eight-situation breakdown.

Are prenups legally binding in Canada?

Yes — when properly executed. A marriage contract must be written, signed by both parties, witnessed, and accompanied by full financial disclosure and Independent Legal Advice for both parties. Properly executed agreements survive challenge in roughly 85–90% of cases according to practitioner estimates. The agreements that are set aside almost always failed on process — no disclosure, no ILA, or timing pressure — not because courts objected to their terms.

What's the difference between equalization and a 50/50 split in Canada?

It depends on the province — the rules aren't the same everywhere. In Ontario, equalization calculates each spouse's net family property — assets at separation minus debts, minus property brought into the marriage — finds the difference between the two spouses' figures, and transfers half that difference to the lower-NFP spouse. Pre-marriage assets are excluded, except for the matrimonial home. In BC, family property acquired during the relationship is divided equally, but pre-relationship assets are excluded. In Alberta, courts apply equitable distribution rather than equal division. None of these is a simple 50/50 split of everything either party owns.

Does a prenup expire?

Not automatically, unless it contains a "sunset clause" specifying a trigger date. Most agreements remain in effect indefinitely. Courts weigh current circumstances when assessing enforceability — an agreement that no longer reflects the couple's situation is more vulnerable to challenge than one that has been reviewed and updated. Reviewing the agreement after major life events (birth of children, significant wealth changes, moving provinces) is strongly recommended.

How much does a prenup cost in Canada?

A platform that includes ILA runs around $999 all-in. Jointly ($429) plus separately sourced ILA runs $1,029–$1,429+ combined. Traditional Ontario family lawyers charge $2,400–$15,000+ per couple depending on complexity. See the full cost breakdown for the complete tier comparison.

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This article provides general information about Canadian family law and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by province. For advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed family lawyer in your province.