by C.K. Matthews

Created on: November 22, 2009

The Failure of Marriage: Can Prenuptial Agreements Save a Marriage?

Many factors play a role in the ruin of a marriage including infidelity, lies, boredom, lack of common goals, lack of communication, mental illnesses and well, the list can go on for eternity however, the biggest factor of all is lack of protection. There are several advantages to the requirement of a prenuptial agreement before marriage. First we are going to look at the disadvantages of not having one.

Without the legal protection a prenuptial agreement can provide the marriage is doomed to fail from the beginning. Why; because marriage is an emotional, and in some situations a holy, contract not bound or protected by a legal one. Marriage is only a legal contract in the fact that partners who are married can benefit from many state and federal benefits allotted only to married couples. During the marriage all monies, assets and responsibilities are typically considered as equally shared. But in reality, that is the extent to the legal bounds of a marriage. The verbal part of the contract includes until death to we part - not until divorce do we part. Yet, anyone anywhere can get a divorce at the drop of a hat. In all 50 of the United States a spouse can opt to use a no-fault argument for a divorce; in 15 states it is the only option. No state will deny a divorce. Many state laws provide for a 50-50 split of assets and debts however, the process to get everything completed can be financially and emotionally draining.

Ok, so far this doesn't sound unreasonable; why stay in an unhappy situation, so what's up? In many business contracts there are stipulations for what happens in the case of dissolution of the contract. This protects each party from harm done by an unwanted and abrupt end to the contract. It also protects each party from the emotional state of mind of the party who wants out. Without a prenuptial agreement there is no such protection in the dissolution of a marriage. It is left to a judge and individual state laws to decide who gets what and in most cases the first one who files has the upper hand.

Let us talk about the idea that the first one to file for a divorce usually has the upper hand. In the state of Kansas a spouse can go before a judge and ask for whatever he or she wants and it is automatically granted through a temporary order and a date is set that the other spouse can attempt to modify the temporary orders. This may vary from state to state but for discussion

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