Monday 18 October 2010

For Richer, For Poorer

Pre-nuptial agreements are a grotesque invention. Who would want to marry anyone who insisted on such a thing, or who even so much as suggested it?

Entitlement upon divorce should be fixed by statute at one per cent of the at one per cent of the other party’s estate for each year of marriage, up to fifty per cent, with no entitlement for the petitioning party unless the other party’s fault be proved.

3 comments:

  1. "Who would want to marry anyone who insisted on such a thing, or who even so much as suggested it?"

    Me.
    Yeah, go ahead, call me weird. It's okay.

    But what is really grotesque, pre-nups? Or the fact that this day and age is making people turn to them?

    What I find truly grotesque is the attitude many of my fellow Americans have about marriage; I'm not a very religious person, but that said, I still think marriage and divorce have become WAY too casual here. With No-Fault divorce, the ridiculous practice of "starter" marriages, the cost of the divorce process, in addition to alimony and maybe child support, it makes me wonder: Who would bother marrying anymore?

    Am I planning to divorce? No, I think of pre-nups as marriage insurance: Better to have and not need than to need and not have. These days, you just cannot tell.

    Believe it or not, I only want to get married ONE TIME. But being in the birthplace of No-Fault divorce, knowing too many people that are on spouse number 3 or 4, knowing too many people with divorced parents, studying statistics of people who go broke because of alimony, hearing countless stories about who was unfaithful to whom, and having the divorce and child-custody laws slanted against me (being male), I am NOT going to take any chances!!!

    Am I being unreasonable? Possibly. But no one would need to turn to pre-nups if marriage wasn't easily prone to falling to pieces and ruining lives. Getting rid of No-Fault divorce would be a start. Your solution about entitlements sounds good, too.

    But until then, I will not fold on the pre-nup. And if the shoe was on the other foot, yes, I would sign one if it was asked of me.

    Yeah, go ahead, call me weird. It's okay!

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  2. Since "entitlement upon divorce" is not fixed in the manner that you suggest, and is not fixed at all, pre-nuptial agreements are very much necessary.

    There are jurisdictions where divorce can financially wipe out one or both parties if they don't have an agreement beforehand. This is not a good thing, but I don't like attacks on people who are trying to play a rotten hand.

    The State of New York is one such jurisdiction, and this is connected with it being the one state in the U.S. to not institute no fault divorce, which is widely considered to result in lawyers walking away with most of the "entitlement upon divorce" in cases settled in New York courts.

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  3. I agree, Mr. Lindsay. Modern divorce laws have made it far too easy to get out of a marriage. On this topic, America is the worst offender in the world. It shows you the spirit of a country when it is far easier to get out of a marriage than a business contract. "Christian Nation" my foot. More like the Empire of Mammon.

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