Would you sign a prenup before you got married?

These days it seems every few months or so, I hear about another friend of mine who’s getting divorced. Which brings me to my question of the week:

Respond even if you’re already married. Just change the question to “Did you” or answer based on your experiences so far. You can also add an answer, but I reserve the right to remove anything I consider inappropriate for this site. Feel free to leave a comment below, too.

The interesting thing is, I have had guy friends tell me that had they not met their fiancées before they’d gotten their high-paying job, a prenup would have been a must, the implication being that since they met before money came rolling in, they know they can trust their wives-to-be. (And you thought conversations like that only happened in movies like The Wedding Singer.) Of course, most people I know would probably say that you ought to marry someone whom you really trust, regardless of your financial situation, so a prenup shouldn’t be necessary.

In our case, we did sign a prenup, but probably not for the typical reason. We got married in Spain, and being fairly ignorant about international and foreign laws, we thought signing a separación de bienes would be the safer option. Just in case something completely unexpected were to happen while we were there, at least one side of our assets might be protected. I actually have no idea if the agreement would have any teeth in the US.

My sister-in-law and her husband who live there also signed a prenup though they have very little assets. But she’s an architect and there was some fear that if she were ever to be sued over some defect in one of her buildings, all of their assets would be completely at risk without one. I don’t know how things work in Spain, so I’m not sure if that fear is justified or not.

Anyway, enough about me. I’m eager to hear your opinions! By the way, if you’re interested in more on the topic of relationships and finance, some popular (and occasionally controversial) ones to check out are Make Love Not Debt or Dual Income No Kids. (If you’ve got a site on this topic you’d like me to add a link to, feel free to let me know.)

***************************************************

Look Good at Work and Become Indispensable Become an Excel Pro and Impress Your Boss

***************************************************