Prenuptial agreements have become very popular with people of modest wealth as a means for preserving that wealth when entering into a marriage. There are plenty of good reasons why those entering into second marriages find these most useful and I would consider most appropriate. The presence of children and obligations from a former marriage often must take precedent over those due to a second spouse. Reality intrudes and directs that some agreement be prepared which spells out limitations upon the otherwise reciprocal open-ended duties and obligations that one assumes upon marriage.
Entering into these agreements for first time marriages is often motivated by the older generation and can bring long-term unintended consequences. Sally, the daughter of a wealthy banking family, meets Charlie, son of a blue collar worker, at NYU and inevitably they fall in love. Because of all of the wealth set aside for Sally, her father successfully insists that she and her fiancé enter into a prenuptial agreement.
It is customary in the drafting of these agreements that the attorney for a party drives a hard bargain which effectively reduces considerably or eliminates entirely the eventual build up of community, marital or joint properties. The boy here, having little to lose except his bride, readily consents to an agreement that bars him, as well as her, from any future property rights he or she may acquire as a spouse by way of gifts, inheritance or employment.
The nuptials take place and Charlie thereafter works 24/7 to eventually become, 15 years later, in the third from the top position in a big board company, earning big bucks with a bushel basket of stock options with could make him extraordinary wealthy. Sally, on the other hand, has not fared as well, since she has spent the past 15 years talking and working with three foot high people. Predictably, a divorce with an enforceable premarital agreement leaves Sally without her customary right to a 50% share or more of George's significant accumulated wealth.
Premarital agreements, unlike wills which are often changed, are like rocks in the river of life which forever taint the relationship between parties. Much pillow talk and angry arguments over the years demonstrate that these agreements are no panacea for a happy and comfortable life together.
Anxiety respecting the future of a marriage is common, only to be alleviated as life rolls on and the marriage gels into a loving and mutually supporting relationship. Where a premarital agreement may seem essential at the commencement of such a union, there is a valid argument to be made that these agreements should go up in smoke once a marriage has passed the initial test of time—say, 7 to 10 years. A marriage which lasts for that duration should remove the essential need for financial armor anymore and justifies reliance upon the essential revealed character of each spouse in relation to each other. No spouse should ever feel chained by existence of agreements which were bargained for in an atmosphere of anxiety and concern respecting the durability of the relationship. Time and the passage of time has made THIS marriage a durable one, and both spouses should feel totally comfortable in relying upon the existing legal system which would call upon an equitable division of wealth accumulated following and as a result of the marriage.
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