Marriage is a sacred bond. It is the joining of two souls under the holy matrimony, forever, in some cases. Marriage is a vow between two people to stay by each other’s side in happiness and sadness.
People spend weeks and months planning their big day. From the dresses to the flowers, they want everything to be perfect. Wedding planning is all fun until one of them brings up the subject of a prenuptial or premarital agreement. It replaces the romantic ambiguity of marriage with pragmatic foresight.
Understanding the Prenuptial Agreement
Do you know what a major mood killer for the to-be-groom or to-be-bride is? Well, it’s a prenuptial agreement. It has the potential to take all the love out of the marriage and replace it with the concern of money. The resign behind it is the fact that the couple has to discuss the possibility of a divorce even before they get to say their marriage vows.
A prenuptial agreement generally referred to as a prenup, is a financial contract that the couple needs to sign before being married. It is an agreement over how a couple wants the division of the assets to take place when it is time to separate their ways. Signing an agreement for divorce, just before uttering the words “I do!”, seems like the perfect wedding gift, doesn’t it?
Some people say that a prenup is essential, considering the number of divorce cases in the country. But is it really that necessary? If you are looking for ways to dry out the essence of romance from your marriage, then signing a prenuptial agreement is the perfect option for you!
Well, it may sound weird, but there are some benefits that you can get from signing a prenup before your marriage. It opens a line of dialogue in a relationship; it sets a new level of loyalty and honesty. The divorce is an expensive process; a prenup can help you cut down the costs and even save you from debt. But most of its benefits are for the time of divorce and considering that you are getting married, thinking about the possibility of divorce can instill fear and stress in you.
The Darker Side of Prenuptial Agreement
There is a dark side of a prenuptial agreement which boasts numerous disadvantages, discouraging couples from signing it in the first place. Even if you think that a prenup is good for the health of your relationship, you need to revisit your plan once more. A prenup does everything but strengthens a relationship.
If you are considering to sign a prenup with your partner, you need to think about the ways it can ruin your marriage.
Corrodes the Marriage
When one spouse pressures the other one to sign a prenup, it indicates that they have trust issues with their spouse. In addition to this, it is a sign that one spouse is thinking about the possibility of divorce in the future, which show their lack of commitment to the marriage. Not only does it drains the relationship out of faith and dedication, but it even strips it off the element of romance which is the basic foundation of marriage.
Increases Chances of Divorce
It sows the seed of the possibility of a divorce even before the marriage. Signing a prenup opens doors to the option of divorce, which is not how people dream of starting their new phase of life. When a couple has a prenuptial agreement, they do not think much before opting for divorce.
Sometimes divorce is inevitable, but in many cases, divorce is preventable, and signing a prenup eliminates most of the chances of reconciliation. In result, it increases the chances of divorce.
Damages Relationship Between Two Families-of-Origin
When one of the spouse’s family is wealthy, they try to get a prenup signed before the marriage. It is a way for them to ensure that the wealth of the family remains in the family. They use the agreement to isolate the property as not part of the marriage, which makes the family of the other spouse face humiliation.
Adds to Your Bag of Bad Memories
The time before the marriage that is supposed to be filled with love and excitement is overshadowed by the tears and stress when signing a prenup. Before a couple makes any good memories, signing a prenup significantly adds to the bag of bad memories that disrupt the foundation of the marriage. It gives birth to unfixable grudges, which later become a cause of separation or divorce.
If it’s your first marriage, signing a prenup is not a smart choice. However, it is quite beneficial if it’s your second or third marriage. In many cases a prenup is unnecessary, and some times this agreement might not even hold up in court. A reason behind it is the fact that many individuals tend to hide their assets in the prenup agreement. Also, it is, in the majority of the cases, too one-sided.
Some couples think it is important for them to sign prenups while some think it ruins the essence of the marriage. The bottom line is that the couples need to think it through before they make their decision. It will have an impact on the marriage, no matter how much one tries to ignore it.