Prenuptial agreements are not only a fairly common part of getting married, but they are also a reasonably accepted form of financial stability.

According to The Washington Post, 73 percent of divorce lawyers reported seeing an increase in the demand for prenuptial agreements over the past five years. This could be because of the current economic situation in the United States. People do not want to take on their future spouse’s debt, nor do they want to share pension plans or have to worry about difficult divorce proceedings dealing with money.

Prenuptial agreements have been happening for years. What is new is divorce insurance. The logic behind this is that “you can insure your life, so why can you not insure yourself against divorce?” This insurance plan basically works the same way as life insurance; customers choose how large of a plan they would like, and every month, they make payments to their plan.

On the WedLock Divorce Insurance website, you can get a personalized estimation of the costs of your possible divorce. Policy holders must wait 36 months before making a claim for divorce, which deters those who feel they have a high risk of getting a divorce. According to the Post article, the owner of the company claims he does not support divorce and offers benefit payouts to those couples celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.

This service, though it could make sense at the time, may have some negative psychological effects on a marriage. By insuring your divorce, you are 8212; somewhere in the back of your mind ­8212; telling yourself that there is either a high risk you are going to get a divorce or that the end is near for you and your partner. Divorce rates have been on the rise for years. This insurance may seem like a simple solution, but it may just be setting you up for that which you fear most.

Divorce doesn’t concern all Americans. Some are actually just putting off marriage. According to The Washington Post, the number of couples living together before marriage rose 13 percent in the last year. For some, this can be considered more financially sound than living on one’s own and is almost a test run of marriage. It also would be much less messy if a break up were to occur. No marriage means no divorce. You get your stuff, and whoever was supposed to leave the apartment leaves. It seems much simpler than having to deal with another insurance agency.

KC Aransen is a sophomore psychology major from Arlington.