Does Your Prenup Cover Digital Content — or Even Embryos?

If your marriage becomes part of your brand, your prenup needs to protect your business just as much as your bank account. The first thing I’d tell any creator is this: Your business needs a 100 percent equity carve out. That’s lawyer speak for “this company is mine.” Your business, your trademarks, your copyrights, your content library, your likeness — those should all be clearly defined as separate property.

Then think about future content. If your business keeps growing after you get married, who owns the podcast episodes, brand deals, licensing income or old videos that keep making money years later?

What if your spouse regularly appears in content you create?

That’s the gray area. If your spouse becomes your co-host or is constantly appearing in your videos, you need to make decisions upfront: If the relationship ends, can you keep that content online? Does anyone get a share of future revenue? Those conversations are awkward now, but infinitely more awkward later.

As more couples turn to fertility treatments, what about reproductive “property,” like embryos?

Embryos create an entirely different category of complexity because they involve both financial investment and deeply personal reproductive decisions.

Fertility clinics require consent forms, but these are often super generic, so a prenup or a specific addendum will legally bind the couple to a decision. That may mean the embryos being destroyed or donated to science or given to one partner with explicit legal severing of the other partner’s parental rights and child support obligations.

How can a prenup protect spouses who choose to leave the workforce to support their family at home?

I think one of the biggest financial risks that people underestimate isn’t divorce — it’s career interruption. If you step away from a six-figure career for five to 10 years to raise kids, you’re not just giving up salary, you’re giving up relationships, promotions, retirement contributions, Social Security credits, future earning potential. This is often referred to as the “motherhood earnings penalty.”