I'm guessing it's been a long time since you've had exposure to the dating scene, especially as it applies in the big cities. Dating and marriage has always been complex.
The risks we are discussing are not trivial. Up to 60% of marriages ending in divorce. 80% of those filed by women. For the man getting married today without a solid prenup, that equates to roughly a 50% chance that she'll decide to take half his stuff and leave him. At least in Colorado custody is a 50/50 split, but in a place like Wyoming, the man can effectively kiss his kids good by, along with 40% of his future income in child support. Again, there are not trivial risks.
Well, you're right, I have not had any personal exposure to the dating scene other than being around some younger people who are in it.
As far as child support goes, that is going to hit someone whether he is married or not and whether he gets custody or visitation or not. Hookup guy can still get nailed with that. As far as property splits go, Wyoming is weird compared to the other place I lived, which was a community property state with some cut and dried rules that pretty much let each person keep their separate property and split the community property. (Side note: you seem to be assuming that most or all of the property was brought in by the man rather than through reciprocal effort, so he is losing "his" stuff rather than divvying up their stuff.) That will vary from place to place, and a pre-nup may be a good idea if state law is bad or if there is a disparity of assets going in. It is especially important in a second marriage, which has a higher divorce rate, usually involves kids, and may involve disparate assets.
