Americans are taking a cautious approach to marriage and are seeking more prenuptial agreements before walking down the aisle¹.

最新调查显示，美国民众现在对待婚姻越来越谨慎，更多人在走入婚姻殿堂之前选择签订婚前协议。

And it is not just the wealthy and famous who are looking to safeguard their assets（资产，财产） when a marriage crumbles²（弄碎） .

More women and middle-class couples are opting³ for prenups（婚前协议） , which can also include adultery（通奸） clauses, protection of retirement⁴ benefits and even custody⁵ of the dog, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), which represents more than 1600 lawyers.

"It's a planning tool. Given that half of marriages end in divorce it makes sense to plan," said Marlene Eskind Moses, the president of the AAML.

Nearly three quarters of members who responded to the AAML poll reported an increase in prenups in the last five years, and more than half said more women are seeking the legal agreements.

Once thought of as only for the rich and famous, prenups are appealing to all income levels but for different reasons.

"Sometimes it can be a prenuptial to protect against debt so that one is not responsible for debt their spouse⁶ accumulated（累积的） before the marriage," Moses explained.

The legal agreements can also include clauses on financial arrangements such as budgets and whether the couple will have separate bank accounts.

More women are working now than in previous decades and they are earning higher salaries. Women comprised 46.8 percent of U.S. workers in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor⁷ and that number is expected to rise to 46.9 percent in 2018.

"In our historically male-dominated culture women didn't control money and now they need to plan as much as the men. More women have more assets these days and have more control over funds," said Moses, a family lawyer with 30 years of experience.