Prenuptial agreements, do you think they are a good idea?

Question

Personally, I think that someone getting married would be stupid not to have one in place before they tie the knot.

My uncle lost everything even though his ex-wife was the one who walked out after she was f***ing some other guy on the side for about a year. She got to keep the house and everything, he got sweet f***-all.

I am not even seeing anyone right now, so this does not apply to me at the moment.

I asked this based on what happened to my uncle.

Answer 1

In the middle-east for centuries both families got together and put together a pre-nup before the marriage. They think we as westerners are stupid for trying to divide up assets once we decide to divorce and hate each other. Pre-nups save a lot of time and money in the event of a divorce and are normally more equitable to both parties. Just make sure she has her own lawyer and it is signed well before the marriage. I have friends who lost everything because their wives walked off with another guy and I have seen women who refused to sign them become millionaires and have to give it all to their deadbeat husbands because our society has some social stigma with pre-nups. Pre-nups are a MUST!!!!!

Answer 2

Fifty years ago the concept of making a marriage contract wasn't ever a consideration. I will be married fify years in 2007. Yes . . . to the same man. We have four married children. Two have ended in divorce. The divorce settlements were not fair in either case. The children are used as pons. The fight in each case goes on forever when children are involved. It get better when the child turns 18. Parents spend thousands of dollars on the wedding and receptions to no avail. Couples don't try to make their marrage work anymore. One thing goes wrong and they head for the first lawyer. In my case. If my husband divorced me after the struggles of raising a family and working together to end up with a nice home and retirements, I would insist that everything was split in half. We entered into marriage with nothing. If one of you has an abundance of money, then you better get a prenuptial agreement but each of you must be fair and what ever you accumulate during marriage must be split in half. It is cruel to do otherwise, no matter whether you want to get even or not. If children are involved, then that is an entirely different situation. The children must have a roof over their heads and enough money for their needs. Divorce is like a fight to the death and would end up like that if we weren't civilized people. That is why a lawyer is hired and the judge decides the case. A divorce lawyer must be the one to help write up the prenuptial agreement. Every case is different. I'm thankfull that I waited until I was 23 to get married. By waiting and being particular I found Mr. Right.

Answer 3

I believe that a prenuptual agreement is good to have if one or both of the people have belongings worth a good deal of money that they got before they met the person. I don't think it is fair at all for someone to marry a person who is doing well for themselves before they ever met, then divorce and get all the stuff that the other person had worked hard for. Now, if the two don't have any belongings of much value, then I don't see a need for one really, unless you want something simple like.. "If one person cheats, then they don't get the house... In case of divorce all assets that were acquired during the marriage are split 50/50" .. This would leave it pretty flexible, for future purchases as a couple and not allow one person to get everything while the other person gets squat.

Answer 4

If you have a lot of asset to protect than a prenupt would be a good idea. If you have zero asset then you don't have anything to protect so you wouldn't need a prenupt. If you're a woman/man without any asset then you should talk your partner into not getting a prenupt. A prenupt really depends on your own hidden agenda. So find out what you can get out of your marriage before you start investing your time or else it would not be a worthwhile investment. Try to put a value on your marriage into something tangible or visceral so you can treat it with a greater care like you do with your other possession. Good luck.

Answer 5

I personally don't believe in prenuptial agreements. The whole thing seems like people are just waiting for a divorce and waiting for what they can collect. That's not the only reason I don't believe in them but people should marry for love and focus on making a marriage work. God didn't have prenups in his time b/c when people made that commitment, it was for life.

Answer 6

In a first marriage...no. If you don't trust the person any more than that you have not business getting married. Yes I understand it means that one party can loot the other party six ways to Sunday.

In a second marriage ....yes. The kids from the first marriage need to be protected so they get what ever it is that you want them to have in the event of a divorce. If you intended to will your aunt Sophies china to your daughter then you need a prenup that says your spouse can not have access to aunt Sophies good china in the event of a divorce etc. etc. etc.

Answer 7

Take the time to really get to know the person you are thinking about marrying. If you have to get a prenuptial then you do not have what it takes to keep a marriage together.

Answer 8

I don't think there a bad idea. It really depends on the individuals who are getting married. Personally, I don't think that I will get a pre-nup. But if I was set to inherit a ton of money or something, I probably would. It's always good to protect yourself.

Answer 9

Unfortunately in today's world, for a lot of people, they probably are a good idea at least for a prescribed amount of time.

Answer 10

I think so too..My brother married a leech...