Would You Sign a Prenuptial Agreement?

Would you sign a prenup? How would you feel if you fell in love with the perfect partner and a prenuptial agreement came up? I've examined my views on this subject - most resulting from personal experiences - and observing the unfortunate fallout of others' marital woes. Only 50% of marriages in existence today have a chance of lasting long-term, while an even lesser percentage does for those marrying a second time.

I've never been approached to sign a prenuptial agreement, but it's too important an issue not to give serious thought. Prenups represent themselves as cold business deals, having little to do with love and emotion. I consider myself one who forms opinions objectively. In a perfect world, things are black and white, but grey areas inevitably exist.

Signing a Prenuptial Agreement: What Makes it A Smart Option

If a couple considers tying the knot, a prenuptial agreement is not surprising when one or the other has large holdings of money, assets, and property. To use a classic illustration, if a man has worked hard to obtain possessions, it's understandable he would want to protect what he acquired long before he ever met his fiancée. Additionally, a prenuptial agreement will limit attorney's fees and lengthy court battles. Divorce is ugly enough without the added burden of hurtful litigations and lawyers trying to milk you for every dime you have. This would an ideal solution in avoiding unpleasant surprises. Unfortunately, love and believing in happily-ever after is not enough to make a marriage work in today's world.

Signing a Prenuptial Agreement: How it Affects Children Involved

Prenuptial agreements are seen more in second marriages. By the second time, couples have experienced life lessons, acquired assets before meeting each other, and likely have children. When children exist from a previous marriage, safeguarding their interests is paramount. If marrying parents want assurance their children are taken care of in a second marriage, signing a prenuptial agreement would save a lot of grief. Prenups protect their inheritance and interests. Also, if a bitter divorce occurs, the doors are closed to custody battles, hence shielding children from extreme turmoil.

Signing a Prenuptial Agreement: What Makes it Unappealing

Though the intent of a prenuptial agreement is to safeguard earned assets and money, the couple temporarily must envision unfortunate scenarios of the dreaded what-ifs. Question of mistrust arise on the part of the person being asked to sign the prenup. He or she may feel it is predetermination of failure in the marriage. It comes off as a business agreement, which essentially it is. Aside from that, prenuptial agreements can cost anywhere between $2,000 to $20,000. Whatever legal costs you would incur in a bad divorce are made up for in a "what if" binding contract.

Signing a Prenuptial Agreement: How to Make it a Win-Win

What people may not be aware of regarding prenups, is they can be as broad or narrow as desired. Clauses can be inserted into the contract, making it null and void if a partner becomes abusive or commits adultery, for example.

Prenuptial agreements can come with a sunset provision. A sunset provision states a specified amount of time needed within the marriage to end the agreement all together. Unless renewed, there are instances in some states that an agreement is automatically invalid with the birth of child. The prenup can also be reviewed or dropped completely after a certain number of years have passed in the marriage.

It's recommended by legal experts for each person to get their own attorney to hammer out prenup details. American Bar Association (www.abanet.org), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (www.aaml.org) or DivorceNet (www.divorcenet.com).

Signing a Prenuptial Agreement: Would You Sign One?

Before writing this article I thought I would be insulted to sign a prenup. It's not something I would encourage my partner to think about, but it's a smart move overall. After gaining more knowledge of how a prenup works, and the clauses that can be added, I'm more open to it. It's more of a win-win than people think and it's just another way to know your partner even better on what he or she is willing to negotiate on. To my surprise, prenuptial agreements are not black and white. Grey areas for signing a prenup are what make it a friendlier option.

SOURCE: CNN

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