Prenuptial agreements seem to be a taboo topic for an about-to-be-married couple. Most people think that marriage is supposedly constituted based on a sacred trust. And no human laws should be above it.
However, such a religious fundamentalist view will bring more harms than goods. In reality, all marriage ends with separation by either death or divorce. And without prenuptial agreements, sharing assets and dividing unpaid debts can be complicated.
The Excluded Things
With prenuptial agreements, you can predetermine many things, except custody rights and alimony. Also, private domestic matters such as chore responsibility, intercourse schedule, reward, punishment, or other similar issues are invalid to discuss. The law is meant to protect the citizen’s wellbeing without intervening too much with their privacy. And thus, the law only acknowledges prenuptial agreements that deal with finances.
Custody rights are excluded from prenuptial agreements because a person’s competence to take care of a child is fluctuating over time. The same logic goes with the alimony rights too.
Protecting Property Assets
Prenuptial agreements can protect your commercial property assets in several ways:
- Keeping the assets within the core family
Assets ownership can get complicated if you are married to a partner with big families. Inheritance disputes have high chances to occur among family members. And creating prenuptial agreements can save you from such trouble. - Giving you a legal stance on private property ownership
In most cases, assets that belong to a married couple are considered shared. If not, then the working partner gets the most out of it.
By creating prenuptial agreements, you can state which assets belong to the marital property and which ones belong to private property. Clarifying such matter in advance can ensure your financial strength as an individual. - Protecting each other from debts
Without prenuptial agreements on property ownership, one spouse might ask for a loan and make the other pays for it. Creating prenuptial agreements concerning with this issue allows you and your spouse to have secured property investments.
Protecting the Kids
If you and your spouse decide to have children, prenuptial agreements are the best option to ensure their wellbeing. By having separate financial accounts, each spouse is not totally dependent on the other. And thus, each is supposed to sustain for him/herself. If divorce becomes inevitable, the kids will have better chances to grow with both parents since they are financially stable.
Imagine if only one parent works. When both get divorced, the custody will be most likely to be granted to the working parent. As a result, the kids grow up only with one parent figure.
The Challenges
Creating prenuptial agreements is not without challenges. First, your partner’s family may see you as a materialistic person. Second, your partner may despise you from not trusting him/her. However, legal matters are real. People get divorced and are often in disputes with each other because of asset ownership.
If you face any of those two challenges, you would be better to seek a legal consultant who can explain things rationally to the reluctant party. It is better not to be blinded by love and then to regret things later after they are out of control.