Prenuptial Agreement - Surviving Family Conflict and Divorce - Research Paper Example

Prenuptial Agreement - Surviving Family Conflict and Divorce Over the years it is seen that the institution of marriage has been endowed with certain rules and flexibility. Every now and then people talk about divorces and agreements that are made during or before marriages. A prenuptial agreement is a contract between husband and spouse before they are marrying. The agreement includes several things such as clauses of property, guardianship and support. All these things together can be helpful when the marriage is undergoing different problems. The clauses of prenuptial agreements differ in accordance to different nations. The prenuptial agreements have become much common in these days as it is seen that they are being used all over the world in countries like United States, France, Norway and Switzerland. Prenuptial agreements are written contracts between the husband and spouse to secure anything in the case of a divorce. This contract helps both the husband and spouse to get over the problems of divorce and property ownership. This essay would further revolve around prenuptial agreements and would define their use in the modern days. Prenuptial agreements are being widely used all over the world to secure marriages by the individuals. Even celebrities are taking advantages of these prenuptial agreements and securing their marriage. The after effects of divorce are most prominently outlined in these agreements and it helps to protect the properties of people. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones signed a prenuptial agreement before their marriage only to avoid the consequences of a property dispute between the two parties. Previously Michael Douglas had to pay $40 million to his ex wife because he did not have any prenuptial agreement with her. Similarly Spice Melanie Brown also underwent a same situation when she had to pay a fortune of $3 million on her divorce to her husband. These situations only arise because a prenuptial agreement was not sought by both the husband and spouse before marriage. The question now arises as to what really is a prenuptial agreement and how does it protect the people who use it? (Wooley & Co Solicitors 2007). A prenuptial agreement is defined as an agreement where the couples have to set out their rights in accordance to their properties. These properties can either be bought together or would be owned by the husband or spouse previously. It is this agreement that helps the husband and spouse to protect the property that they own separately. An essential reason for using this agreement is that the institute of marriage puts all the assets of the spouse and husband under one name and thus they cannot be protected anymore in the case of divorce. Moreover this agreement also protects the husband and spouse from incurring any burden of loan that he or she had taken previously. It also helps in securing the assets of the person who might move from one country to the other for the sake of marriage. This person would then be compensated if anything wrong happens in the case of marriage. In other words the prenuptial agreement is very beneficial in cases where a wealthy person is marrying a person who is not rich enough. It is helping in protecting the assets of both the individuals. The prenuptial agreements help to counter any type of deception that may be involved in the marriage. However the most potential benefit of the agreement is the security that it provides to the people involved in marriage (Wooley & Co Solicitors 2007). Besides the advantages of the prenuptial agreements it also has its own drawbacks and disadvantages which should be noted down. The agreement does not take into consideration the problem of custodianship of the children. The visits of the children after the divorce are also not laid down by the agreement. Anything which would be illegal in the cases of the agreement is also not taken into consideration when drafting it. Some believe that prenuptial agreement dampers the institute of marriage as many would lose the interest of love because of the boundaries drawn by the agreement. Not every spouse and husband would be afraid of the consequences of divorce if this agreement is drafted before the marriage. Some even call this agreement as a prerequisite for divorce as it lays the grounds for it in the future. The agreement is a negative factor for both the parties as most of the times the other is not willing to do it but falls out because of the feelings. A professor from the Georgetown University states that “Usually its one person who wants it and not both parties”. Thus it can be said that the prenuptial agreements have their own pros and cons which affect the marriage in a positive or a negative way (Jet 1988). A prenuptial agreement is to be drafted carefully so that it does not pose any problems to the spouse or husband in the future. They are drafted after examining and analyzing the financial data of both the husband and wife. However another disadvantage of prenuptial agreements is that these agreements still leave the discretionary power into the hands of the court. Thus these discretionary powers make it necessary that the agreement is carefully drafted. If the prenuptial agreement is not carefully drafted then it is possible that it would be termed as invalid and the person would benefit from it. An example of Susan Crossley can be taken here who sued her husband for not showing all the accounts in the prenuptial agreement and demanded compensation. However later on she withdrew the charges as she found out the agreement was finely crafted. This helped in coming to the conclusion that the prenuptial agreements have become a protective weapon for the people who want to save their wealth (Gibbs 2008). The prenuptial agreements have been recognized in many developed countries but were still not recognized in United Kingdom until 2010. A German heiress Katrin Radmacher and her husband Nicholas Granatino divorced in 2006 but had a prenuptial agreement prior to the marriage. Granatino argued that he did not have much idea about the prenuptial agreement as it was in German whereas Radmacher argued that it was common in the culture that they both lived in. At first the lower courts ruled in the favor of Nicholas but after four years the court of Appeal realized the weight age of prenuptial agreements and ruled in the favor of Radmacher. Ever since this case it has been argued that prenuptial agreements would also be recognized in the United Kingdom now (Boycott 2010; Kay 2009). In order to find out about the views that people had about prenuptial agreements I decided to carry out a poll amongst my friends. I gave out a questionnaire to every friend regarding these agreements and what they thought about them. Most of my friends agreed that prenuptial agreements were beneficial when a lot of wealth was involved. They believed that it was the best possible option in securing the wealth of one individual. On the other hand they also agreed that this agreement would make it difficult for the spouse and husband to compromise on certain things. They believed that a prenuptial agreement was a way through which both the husband and wife could get off easily on the issue of marriage. Moreover some of my friends disagreed with the prenuptial agreements because they believed that this agreement would damper the love that is found in marriage. If the husband and spouse are aware of any such agreement then it is possible that they would not think twice before opting for a divorce. Prenuptial agreements are a way through which people can get over problems that they may face after the marriage. The poll shows that some people agree to the terms of prenuptial agreement whereas some believe that it only becomes a hurdle in the marriage. In my view prenuptial agreements should only be used when the spouse and husband both believe that it is necessary for protection. An understanding on the prenuptial agreement is necessary for both the individuals involved. I believe that prenuptial agreements are necessary in the world today for both the wealthy and ordinary people. The wealthy people would be able to protect their wealth from any kind of deception whereas the ordinary people would be able to withstand the costs of divorce and stress involved in the process. The prenuptial agreements can be used for the benefit of individuals as they can get over other problems such as adultery and guardianship. The negatives of the prenuptial agreements can also not be ignored as they do not involve the problems of custodianship and children. The agreements can further be improved upon by the law and can include things like these so that the husband and spouse do not face problems in the future. In my belief one should properly sought out the guidelines of the agreement before using it for the marriage. References Top of Form Jet. Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co., 1951. Print. Top of Form Surviving Family Conflict and Divorce: A Plain English Guide to the Legal Issues. Evesham: Word4Word, Wooley & Co Solicitors 2007. Print. Bottom of Form Prenup agreement enforced under UK law. Owen Boycott, The Guardian, 2010. Should you bother with a prenup? F Gibbs, Times Online 2008. Green light for pre-nuptial agreements? Anne Kay, BBC News 2009. Bottom of Form Read More