A young man went to his future father-in-law to ask for the
hand of his daughter in marriage.
“Yes,”
the old man chuckled, “and you can even have the rest that goes with her hand.”
The
anecdote above just illustrates one cold reality about marriage. It is not just two people falling in love;
it’s also about the couple sharing their properties or assets. This doesn’t
seem stark clear before the wedding date when the couple is so muchin love with
each other. But with the rate of divorce
being so high these days, it is now common for prospective couples to work out
an agreement on how they should split up their properties should their marriage
fall apart. This agreement is called a prenuptial
agreement.
But even
with a prenuptial agreement, things can still turn awry when a couple’s
marriage turns sour. So, what can a
couple do to come up with a workable “prenup?” Here are a few tips:
First of
all, give yourselves a long time to prepare the “prenup.” Ideally, one year to six months before your
wedding date is a good period. The
reason is simple: your “prenup”
preparations shouldn’t conflict with your wedding preparations. With that much allowance, you and your
prospective spouse can be more level-headed about the whole thing.
Second,
get love out of the picture. Yes, you
read it right: Get love out of the
picture. In other words, even as the two
of you are so in love, you are talking dollars and cents here. Both of you may think that you will be
together forever. Still, you have to think, “What if?” What if the marriage doesn’t
work? It’s like getting an insurance
policy. Nobody wants to think about deaths
or accidents but … what if?It pays to
be prepared. And that’s what a “prenup”
is all about: being prepared just in
case the marriage doesn’t work out.
Third,
make sure that the prenuptial agreement can be enforced. In other words, make it clear enough that
each of you will know what he or she is getting should your marriage fail. Don’t
put too many conditions such as what happens when one partner cheats on
another. Such conditions will only put
roadblocks on enforcing your prenuptial if the time should ever come. So, make your “prenup” enforceable.
Finally,
get a good lawyer to help you with the “prenup.” You have to realize that marriage laws vary
from state to state. And even the laws
within one state can be confusing. It’s
not for non-lawyers to dabble in. Laws
sound Greek to non-lawyers, but make perfect sense to attorneys. Hence, a they can
help you make sense out of the cacophony of state laws.
Now,
you are prepared to have a good “prenup” – and perhaps a great nuptial.
