I believe that prenuptual agreements are not useful for the majority of the population, but essential for a small portion of society.
As mentioned by other posters, it makes sense for people with children or the very wealthy. Another situation is for small business owners. If the company grows during the marriage, both spouses are entitled to half of that growth. This could force the sale of the company in order to settle the divorce. A reasonable prenup might be able to avoid the dissolution of the business in the event of a divorce. A forced sale of the business might not recoup the true value of the business and the entrepreneur would then be unemployed.
As for how it is approached, I would suggest trying to remove as much emotion from the discussion as possible. So, don't do it the day of the proposal or a week before the wedding or even right before going out with other people. Both sides should have separate legal councils. And in bringing it up, try to reinforce that you hope that it never gets used. e.g. "Honey, I am really excited that we are getting married and will spend the rest of our lives together. My lawyer suggested that we get a prenup to address how we deal with my business if we ever happen to divorce. I will do everything in my power to prevent that from ever being needed but in the unlikely event that we do ever get a divorce it it should help protect both of us."
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