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In basic terminology, a prenuptial agreement is a legal document that is signed by people who are intending to get married but want some sort of individual protection. The document outlines what will happen if the couple decides after a time to separate and/or divorce. Specifically, it addresses things like custody, division of financial assets, and future arrangements. For many people, this is a very normal and acceptable legal arrangement, particularly given the increasingly high rate of divorce in our society. Marriage as an "institution" is no longer considered "sacred" by many people, so certain legal documents such as prenuptial agreements are required in order to "protect" the individual. Granted, many people enter into the union of marriage without worrying about individual protection because they truly believe the vows that they spoke.

I suppose that there is some practicality in life in protecting oneself against risk. After all, we pay for many different types of insurance so that if something bad happens, we have some sort of protection. Many people apply the same viewpoint towards a potential marriage. They assume that there is a good enough possibility that things will go wrong. Therefore, they need to make arrangements for definitive protection. Of course, one has to wonder what this says about the attitude towards marriage. Does signing a prenuptial agreement mean that there is already doubt in the mind of people? Does it mean that they don't really expect for things to work out? What about "in sickness and in health"? What about "until death do us part?" Are those just empty words?

I suppose for those people who are truly committed, a required prenuptial agreement wouldn't be a big deal. In many ways it is like having a blood test. If you are truly honest with each other, then a blood test isn't necessary, but people do it anyway because it is part of our culture. I did not sign a prenuptial agreement when I got married and I am glad I did not. When my wife and I got married, we knew that we were going to make things work. We knew that through thick and thin we were going to stay committed to each other.

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