After several years of experience with divorces, and talking with so many people who have gone through the divorce process, I have seen the light. There are countless reasons that people get divorced, but the most commonly occurring one is financial troubles. When I say financial problems, I do not necessarily mean that there is not enough money to make ends meet, but instead, I see much of the time, situations where husband and wife cannot see eye-to-eye and agree how to address financial issues. It could be as simple as a one person’s fetish for shoes or golf, or it could be how much you spent on your new smartphone, or it could be more mundane issues like whether you pay your bills on time.
When I was younger, I always thought that prenuptial agreements, also known as antenuptial agreements, were unfair, biased, and manipulative contracts entered into in bad faith by one party with much to protect, and by the other party under duress. I don’t think so anymore.
Benefits of Prenuptial Agreements
What I have learned over the years is that it is beneficial to the success of a marriage to have an understanding of what each party’s role will be. How will each contribute? Who will pay what bills? Because so many marriages end in divorce, statistically more than one-half, the chances of a marriage succeeding by entering into a prenuptial agreement that can provide this type of guidance to the parties.
This type of agreement can assist both parties in understanding how money earned during the marriage is going to be spent. By providing the parties an already agreed-upon roadmap for how finances are dealt with. This helps during the marriage, prenuptial agreements lessen the stress. The pressure which may ultimately lead to dissolution or legal separation.
