Did you or would you sign a pre-nuptial agreement?

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Anglican77

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The validity of marriages w/ pre-nuptial agreements is discussed on another thread here:
Code: 
http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=87879
I was curious to find out how commonplace pre-nuptial agreements are in the Catholic Church? Have you or would you sign one? Or, did you or will you require your current/future spouse to sign one? If so, why?
 
Oh, and just to answer for myself, I would never sign one. Call me a romantic, but I just couldn’t feel good about my marriage if I had to sign one beforehand.

However, I did read one instance on the thread mentioned above that seemed to justify having a pre-nup. In that case it was if there are children involved from another marriage and the other parent from that marriage was deceased. The pre-nup in that case is to protect the assets of the children in the event of the death of their parent. I suppose in this case it is an extra precaution to the will? I’m not sure.
 
I made my current spouse sign one before we got married…I would of still married him even if he did not sign it (by the way).

The reason I have one is my first marraige produced a child and this child and all future children I may have I wanted to make sure that their inheritances from me stayed intact/ uncontested etc.
There is **nothing in my pre-nup regarding divorce or division of marital property. **
Basically restates what MY will states 😃
 
In the referenced thread in the original posting, there’s an excellent excerpt from the Diocese of Pittsburg on the subject, and that covers my take on the subject.

As it notes, widows and widowers seem the most probable users of these documents, for the sake of children of their now ended marriage. And depending on where you are, merely putting something in one’s will may not be enough because of the marriage laws of the jurisdiction. For example, here in Canada, each Province and Territory has marriage laws, and one of them, Quebec, has laws that find their origins in the Code Napoleon (as does all of their civil law, Quebec being the only province with a civil code). I would be very leary of an agreement that sought to protect assets from the intended husband or wife, but to protect them from the government or the laws it has passed, oh yeah, you bet! We’re long past the days when governments were friends of marriage.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
Hmmmm…this is making me wonder about my own situation. My father is deceased and my mother remarried 3 years ago to a man without any children. In their wills, the assets will be split between my sisters and I, and my step-dad’s nephews. Does this mean my mom’s assets could be in jeopardy, despite her will?
 
An friendly acquaintance of my fiance’s got taken off the guest list (by me) for trying to bet my fiance that my parents would require a pre-nup.
I told him he should have taken the bet! Both of us were highly offended by the remark. I considered it insulting to both my parents and my fiance.
I can understand a pre-nup in a case like Karin’s, but for the most part I think the need/desire for one is a bad sign about the future of the marriage. My fiance’s grandfather divorced and remarried, and his new wife has indicated (through her actions) that HER children and grandchildren will be the only benefactors of HIS money- she came to the marriage with nothing, and does not treat his side of the family very well. One thing we have to remind ourselves is that our parents and grandparents owe us nothing when they die. If they choose to spend away the fortune THEY earned, they have that right.
I do, by the way, have more assets than my fiance. We have discussed keeping some of it in my name only, but for the sole purpose of my having indisputable access to funds if he became incapacitated in some way. We would establish a similar account for him, though it tends to be less of a problem for men.
 
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Anglican77:
Hmmmm…this is making me wonder about my own situation. My father is deceased and my mother remarried 3 years ago to a man without any children. In their wills, the assets will be split between my sisters and I, and my step-dad’s nephews. Does this mean my mom’s assets could be in jeopardy, despite her will?
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Her assets that she is leaving you and your sister? or the assests she may inherit when her current husband dies?
Either way they could be depedning on the laws in your state and the wording in the wills.
 
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Karin:
Her assets that she is leaving you and your sister? or the assests she may inherit when her current husband dies?
Either way they could be depedning on the laws in your state and the wording in the wills.
Click to expand...
Her assets prior to the marriage. I will look into it. I just remembered that I work at a law firm! 😃
 
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Anglican77:
Her assets prior to the marriage. I will look into it. I just remembered that I work at a law firm! 😃
Click to expand...
Good idea:D
Also remember NOT all lawyers should be writting a Will…some of them have NO idea what they are doing.:eek:
 
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