They're unromantic and pessimistic. Yes, prenuptial agreements get a bad rap whether they ever have to be invoked or not. And for those of us who are divorced, a fair and equitable prenup may have saved us a lot of grief, not to mention legal fees.

But here’s a new twist: Acendi Interactive, a crafty company specializing in online legal information, inexpensive prenups and other self-help information latched on to the recently released data on declining divorce rates and linked it to prenups. “Premarital agreements help smart couples stay together,” said Charley Moore, RocketLawyer.com legal commentator in a press release. “Mature couples…and their frank understanding of the financial relationship created by marriage is resulting in happier and longer lasting marriages,” Moore noted.

When I got married, I was deadset against a prenup, but in retrospect, I see Moore’s point. When my then fianceé sheepishly mentioned it (he brought more to the table financially), I was insulted. At the time, when he said he only brought it up for my protection, my response was flip: “Any prenup that I’ll agree to, you won’t want to sign.” Yes, I forgot that marriage is, in fact, not much more than a legal contract.

In my case, not having a prenup wasn’t cause for divorce, but I do believe my husband would have been less territorial about money if we had one. I married a man who, in his own words, “worked very hard for whatever savings he had,” and he didn’t want to feel he’d “lose” half if we didn’t stay married. This made me livid, and his response was to joke about “spending everything quickly” if need be.

Yes, he’s that charming. Nonetheless, if I did agree to a prenup, we would have at least bickered less over money but more importantly, he may have been more trusting and maybe, just maybe, we could have been happier.

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