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Why Almost Everyone Needs a Prenup
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2012-02-11 20:23
Article here. Excerpt:
'Asking for a prenup--a legal agreement that specifies how couples will divide assets if they divorce--doesn't exactly sound like a romantic gesture. After all, couples marry for love, not money, so who needs to work out the nitty-gritty financial details of a break-up that the couple hopes will never happen?
...
Everyone does, insists Silvana Raso, matrimonial attorney with the Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based law firm Schepisi & McLaughlin. "There's not a single person who couldn't benefit from a prenup, even if you're going into marriage with little assets," says Raso. "You might accumulate assets during the marriage, and even a young couple embarking on their own careers wants to make sure that what they acquire during marriage isn't just left up to a judge to divide," she adds.
...
Many couples today enter marriage on relatively equal terms, with both spouses working and building careers, says Raso. Then, if they have children, one spouse often scales back workforce ambitions to spend more time at home. "They put their career on the back burner, and that limits their earning power substantially," she says.
As a result, she always asks couples what they think about alimony in the event of a divorce. "People are often surprised to hear their partner's reaction. If their spouse doesn't want to pay alimony, that might convince you to keep working," she says.
...
Some states, including Texas and California, are known as community property states, which means couples' assets are usually divided in half regardless of circumstances. That means couples who wouldn't want an equal division need a prenup to prevent it.
Raso says prenups are like life insurance policies--no one likes thinking about either worst-case scenario, but having plans in place can ease the stress of a painful life event. Says Raso, "It's not romantic, but it's realistic."'
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Comments
Prenups are a good thing,
Prenups are a good thing, but people have to understand how they work and their limitations. They often have to be updated. They force a couple to define and agree to things right from the start. For examples in the event of a divorce some couples may even disagree about which state is their home state, something a prenup would already have spelled out. It also helps manage debt. Often couples combine debt once they are married to lower interest rates. It is good to document and agree as to how much debt each person came into the marriage with and what money is being used to pay off such debts.
I think anything that promotes truth, understanding and agreements in relationships is a good thing. I recommend pre-nups as well as paternity testing for these reasons.
If nothing else how about
If nothing else how about having couples sign a 'prenup' that simply states they wish to have the laws in place at the time of divorce in the state of residence apply to their separation. So it wouldn't change anything, it would work exactly how it does now, except now everyone signs a piece of paper, and if everyone does it anyways, I think many couples would opt to write their own piece of paper instead.
most marriages
at least for those couples capable of breeding, will result in offspring fairly quickly.
this rush to parenting happens for a variety of reasons. however, whatever the reasons,
most young couples have families within a very few years of the initiation
of cohabitation, whatever form it takes. you need only open your eyes to know women want children.
however, a prenup, while it may be well intentioned, during a divorce,
is pretty much useless where children of that marriage are concerned. you can't determine the
outcome of a divorce if you go before a judge with the 'best interest of the children' involved.
that's divorce court's rice bowl. no tipping allowed. everybody knows the rules.
normally, she gets the kids, the house, the car(s), the $$, and on and on.
he pays. simple equation. few exceptions.
i would like to be there when someone shows a prenup to a judge and tells him how it will be
with custody and c.s., and alimony, and so forth.
i do love a good belly laugh these days.
what about when she refuses to work?
we have no pre-nup but had a verbal agreement that the wife would work once the kids were in school. Now she says she never said that and REFUSES to even look for a job.
What can a man do when the other half of the financial equation refuses to work? She knows that as long as I am the only one bringing in the money that there would be a large payoff for her if we divorce.
This example is EXACTLY why marriage laws should be changed. If a man finds himself in this circumstance he may feel very resentful !!!
Would a pre-nup have helped at all in this case?
oregon dad
Oregon Dad, That happened to
Oregon Dad,
That happened to my uncle. First it was she would work after the kids were both in kindergarten, then it was once they were in middle school, then highschool. And family friends has basically setup interviews such that they were a formality, all she had to do was show up and she'd have the job, and she wouldn't. Eventually the divorce came and she of course stayed in the house. Only after they were divorced did she end up finding a job.