A prenuptial agreement, or “prenup,” is a contract that a couple signs prior to their marriage laying out what each spouse is entitled to in the event of divorce.

While prenups historically have been stigmatized as a vehicle for wealthy, famous and powerful people to protect their riches from “gold-diggers,” in reality they’re a useful device for ensuring predictability. And statistics from the American Academy of Matrimonial Law show that among “Millennials” (people born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s), the stigma has gone away, as more than half of all lawyers report an increase in Millennials seeking out such agreements.

This is likely due to several factors.

First, Millennials are getting married later in life than prior generations, which means they’re likely bringing more property and income into the marriage that they wish to protect than in the past.

Additionally, Millennials are more likely than prior generations to have been raised in a household impacted by divorce. In these instances, they’ve experienced the instability and tensions it can create and want to take preemptive measures to insulate themselves from similar instability.

Further, as the cost of higher education has skyrocketed over the past couple of decades, Millennials are more likely to be coming into a marriage burdened by student debt as well as consumer debt from credit cards that they’ve incurred along the way. Given the reality that debt can often be divided in divorce, many Millennials are requesting prenuptial agreements to ensure they don’t get saddled with their spouse’s debt should the marriage not work out.

Finally, while gender discrimination is by no means a thing of the past, the Millennial generation is one of more parity between men and women in the professional world, meaning more women are entering marriage having already achieved professional success and financial status than in past generations, and part of the increase is due to women seeking out prenuptial agreements.

But regardless of which “generation” you slot yourself into — Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Millennials or Gen-Z — if you are entering marriage with assets you wish to protect, or if your spouse has debts you wish not to assume, it’s important to have an honest discussion about a prenuptial agreement and engage an attorney to help you draft one.