New Delhi, Aug. 4 -- Indian marriages have changed dramatically over the past two decades. People are marrying later, building careers before marriage, buying homes in their own names, investing independently and, increasingly, entering marriage with active financial lives. Yet the law governing marriage has largely remained unchanged, offering detailed legal remedies when a marriage breaks down. However, there is almost no room for couples to decide in advance how their financial affairs should be managed if that happens.

That gap has brought prenuptial agreements into public discussion. While common across many jurisdictions, prenups continue to occupy uncertain legal ground in India. Under the Indian Contract Act, 1872, agreements mad...