Key Takeaways:
A growing number of couples are embedding "leaving the workforce" clauses in prenuptial agreements to protect stay-at-home spouses from the financial fallout of a divorce.
About one in four prenuptial agreements now include a trigger clause that provides financial support if one spouse leaves the workforce to raise children, divorce lawyers say, reflecting a shift in how couples approach marital contracts.
"Couples are thinking ahead about children, childcare, relocation, household responsibilities and the possibility that one spouse's career may take priority over the other," Todd Spodek, managing partner at Spodek Law Group, said.
Women account for 80 percent of stay-at-home parents, according to family lawyers. Those who leave the workforce can lose as much as $295,000 in salary and retirement savings, data from the Urban Institute shows. The clauses aim to compensate for that gap by tying spousal support to lost earnings, retirement contributions or career seniority.
Without such provisions, state divorce laws often fail to account for the diminished earning power of a spouse who stepped away from a career, lawyers said. The trend signals a broader rethinking of prenups — from asset-protection tools for the wealthy to equity instruments for dual-career couples navigating who stays home with the kids.
The trigger provisions vary widely in structure. Some require the working spouse to set aside money reflecting the stay-at-home parent's previous salary, with annual raises of 3 percent to 5 percent. Others mandate regular contributions to an investment account that goes solely to the nonworking spouse in a divorce. If one partner owns a business, the other may be guaranteed a percentage stake.
Lawyers must define what "leaving the workforce" means, Spodek said. Does the provision apply only when both spouses agree one should stop working? Does it cover reduced hours, relocation, elder care or illness? How long must the spouse remain out of work? Once those scenarios are agreed upon, couples decide what financial support is activated.
Randall M. Kessler, founding partner of Kessler & Solomiany, said the support can be structured in multiple ways — from lump-sum payments to ongoing alimony formulas tied to the working spouse's income growth.
Divorce lawyer Lisa Zeiderman, who practices in New York City, said she is working on prenups with these clauses for three different couples. "Without a prenup, the person in the workforce will have earning power that the other will never be able to achieve," she said. "It's frankly disappointing that there is not a lot of recognition for the stay-at-home parent in a divorce."
State laws vary widely. While courts typically allow for an equitable split of assets such as the family home, that often does not compensate for lost earning power, said Daryl Weinman, a divorce lawyer in Austin, Texas. "Judges don't always factor that in," Weinman said. "You are the one out of work and not building up savings and retirement."
Some states allow for lifestyle alimony, granting a nonworking spouse support that maintains their accustomed quality of life. But almost all states encourage a return to the workforce, meaning such support has a time limit.
The rise of trigger clauses is part of a wider evolution in how prenups are marketed and perceived. Millennials and Gen Z couples are getting married later, after building careers and accumulating debt, making them more attuned to financial planning. Online platforms such as HelloPrenup allow couples to create agreements without lawyers, lowering the barrier to entry.
Lilli Donahue left her job in finance last year to launch a podcast dedicated to prenups, hosting events in New York City where attendees hear from divorce lawyers and financial planners. Her own parents' divorce took six years and left both filing for bankruptcy, she said.
"I always tell people, 'Why are you letting the state decide what fair is?'" Donahue said.
In 2025, 68 percent of mothers with children under six years old participated in the workforce compared with 95 percent of men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While gender roles are shifting and more fathers are choosing to stay home, women remain far more likely to give up their careers.
For couples like Anna Morgenstern, 40, and Zach Spiess, 45, who married in New York City last year, the trigger clause became a financial planning exercise. Spiess proposed the clause, asking what would happen if one of them stopped working to raise children. The couple used HelloPrenup to agree that the working spouse would provide additional financial support if the other left the workforce, except in cases of infidelity.
"It was a good opportunity to get a view into how he thinks about our future," Morgenstern said.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
