Prenuptial agreements are critical to avoiding these problems, he said. They can "enable couples to decide for themselves any number of issues and to write down their own contract to account for, amongst other things, the financial consequences of a divorce," he said.
He added that prenups make sense because they are normally written at a time when "the parties are likely the most agreeable towards each other."
Prenups should be done as early as possible, Rubin said. The closer people are to marriage, the more difficult it is to create an agreement, he said. Once couples are married, he said, prenuptial agreements are usually unachievable.
But prenups are widely recognized and can avoid most of the economic problems of a breakup.
"Properly executed prenuptial agreements are valid and enforceable in all fifty states and the District of Columbia," he said.
He noted that New York is considered to be particularly hospitable to prenuptial agreements. One way to help ensure these agreements are legal is for both parties to each have an attorney, he said.
"Independent counsel is not strictly required, but it is the surest way to show that a prenuptial agreement is entered into knowingly and voluntarily and without fraud, undue influence, duress or overreaching," Rubin said.
Rubin said some people may object to signing or even discussing a prenup, with some viewing such an agreement as "unromantic."
Nevertheless, he argued that the inability of a couple to even talk about a prenup agreement probably provides more of a reason to have one.
"If one feels that one cannot discuss difficult topics with one's future spouse," Rubin said, "it would not seem to bode well for a successful marriage.