Recently in Prenuptial Agreements Category

After proposing to his girlfriend of four years in New York, former Beatle Paul McCartney, 68, is now engaged to businesswoman and fellow divorcé Nancy Shevell, 51, reported Reuters. As some Chicago residents may have heard, the engagement will be McCartney's third, following the singer's sour divorce with his second wife, Heather Mills.

However, McCartney and Shevell will not be setting up a prenuptial agreement, according to the Daily Mail. Instead, McCartney's lawyers have prepared a simple, one-page document that states Shevell will not make any claims on the trust funds of his children in the event their marriage fails.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and MTV reality star Kristin Cavallari from "The Hills" are now engaged to be married, according to CBS News. The couple began dating this past fall and recently returned from a vacation in Mexico, where Cutler, 27, reportedly popped the question to Cavallari, 24.

"He surprised her with a quick trip to Cabo San Lucas to ask her to marry him," said a source.

Kristin Cavallari is one of a number of celebrities who has found romance with sports stars. NFL star Eric Johnson and singer Jessica Simpson, also engaged, is just one more example. However, each of these stars likely has considerable assets and property, which raises a common pre-marriage question: will they create a prenuptial agreement?

Deciding how a marriage will be dissolved before even getting married might sound like the ultimate red flag. But regardless of the "forever" concept of marriage and at risk of sounding too cynical, the fact is that U.S. couples have a 50/50 chance that their marriage will end in divorce. 

That means a prenuptial agreement (or "prenup") makes logical, if not romantic, sense for many couples. A USA Today article discusses how more people not named Tiger Woods or Sandra Bullock are drafting such agreements before getting hitched.

Marlene Eskind Moses, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, told reporters that prenups have become extremely popular for non-celebrities:

"It's not just something for the rich and famous any longer. It's for people that have assets and/or income that they want to protect."

Joseph Walczak, an Illinois family law attorney who writes a legal advice column in the Southtown Star, recently answered a question from a woman whose fiancé wants a prenuptial agreement (or "prenup" for short). He earns more money and has more assets than she does, so it may serve his interests more than hers. 

But she wants to know if it's in her best interests and ultimately whether or not she should sign it. It's a touchy prospect to sign a contract detailing how property should be divided after a divorce when the couple is not yet even married.

Mr. Walczak tells her that any prenuptial agreement could "substantially limit [her] rights" if the marriage ends or if her spouse dies, which is kind of the point of the prenup.