Are Indians Ready for Prenups?

Dear Reader,

When Maneesh, a 28-year old engineer who works at a PSU, first brought up prenups with his girlfriend, she was annoyed. 

“It looked as if he was guarding himself from me while I was putting my entire life at risk to marry him, leaving everything, willing to stay with his parents,” she told me over text. She also wondered why Maneesh was “so unusual” and whether she was “untrustworthy.” 

Maneesh, for his part, says he's seen enough ugly divorce disputes to want greater transparency before taking the leap into marriage.

To that end, he wanted his girlfriend and him to record what each of them owned, what they earned and what they owed—a prenup essentially sets out what happens if a marriage ends: how a couple would divide their property, settle liabilities and handle other financial matters.

Advocate Virat Vilas Pawar, who practises family law, says he's noticed more people approaching him with questions about prenups. But he often has to slow them down.

Unlike the West, Indian law does not treat these agreements as automatically binding.

“In India, and especially in Hindu law marriage is considered a sacrament, not a contract. It’s almost blasphemous to enter a marriage with the assumption that your marriage is going to fall apart,” said Prof Harikartik Ramesh, who teaches family law at OP Jindal University. 

He added that the Indian state is invested in ensuring that marriages last and that recognising prenups would contradict that public policy.

But prenups aren't illegal.

Ankur Borwarkar, founder of Prenup India, an online platform that helps couples draft such agreements, says courts do consider them as persuasive evidence. 

Ultimately though, Ankur says that even the exercise of drafting such an agreement is illuminating.

“This is an exercise in transparency and honesty first and foremost. The idea is to invite the difficult questions, embrace them. Because you want to find those differences today, resolve them today and then begin your marriage on that understanding,” he adds. 

Since that initial conversation, Maneesh’s girlfriend has become more open to the idea of signing a prenup. 

But should India go further and make these agreements legally enforceable?

Prof Hari sees a problem. While prenups could reduce matrimonial litigation, he worries that couples don't necessarily enter negotiations on equal terms.

In particular, women may face considerable family and social pressure when deciding whether to marry and what terms to accept. 

"What is the actual negotiation position of women?" he asks.

He’s concerned that recognising prenups without addressing these inequalities could leave some women with little room to negotiate agreements that protect their interests. 

To learn more, and to hear from Maneesh, lawyers and experts, tune in to the latest episode of The Signal Brief.

You can find The Signal Brief on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Thank you once again for listening and supporting us. We’d love to hear from you; write to us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram or X at @thesignaldotco.

Best,
Kudrat
on behalf of The Core

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