What exactly is a "prenup"?

Its a financial and asset agreement before you get married. In the eyes of the law, after marriage everything becomes halved..... even the matrimonial home no matter who owns it first (in some states not all).... some people have lots of assets they want to protect from a failed marriage... its like insurance that says "if this marriage fails, I dont want you cleaning out my hard earned savings and stuff".... and rightly so in some instances... but in others not so rightly. If it were me, I would nto marry someone who wanted one of these because that tells me he doesnt have faith in me or our marriage that hasnt even started yet. Albeit I am a fair and honest person who would not marry for money, however, that is not always the case.... some of these guys or gals marry much younger gold diggers and these wealthy people know it... they know in their heart its for a short time but they want it anyway, so they ask for a pre-nup...... anyway, its basically an agreement on who gets what should the marriage fail... cut and dry and done up by lawyers that represent each side.

The answers here are ok. but a prenup is a contract. as is your marriage agreement. It states what property belongs to the marriage and which dosnt. What many people forget is that the prenup is negotiated between the parties. for example, I agree on divorce that I will not be entitled to 50% of your car dealership business which belongs to your family but in return for this agreement you will provide me a new car every three years "should we get divorced". or you will pay the entire eduational expenses of our children. Where they run into trouble is when they are based solely on a one sided thing where one party clearly is being selfish and the other party cannot get quid pro quo..

Answer # 2 said it clearly. A prenup is especially needed when there is a lot of property or money involved. I think it would be unwise not to have one if one is needed.

It basically outlines what you can and cannot lay claim to in the event of a divorce. It generally is when one person has a lot of assets and one does not, it protects the one with something to lose from a gold digging spouse.

I would be HIGHLY suspicious of anyone that won't sign one. Personally, I think they should be required if one person comes into the marriage with a lot more than the other.

a prenuptial agreement is a document signed before marriage that states what property/money will go to which person within the relationship to prevent one from claiming all or almost all of the posses ions or money while the other keeps nothing at all or very little

It is a pre marriage contract that usually states that in the event of divorce you both walk away with whatever you brought INTO the marriage and nothing more.

It's an abbreviation and stands for "pre-nuptial agreement".

that means, you don't get his stuff

if things go bad!

its a red flag that you shouldn't marry a man.