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Good News on the Law: Before You Say “I Do” to a Pre-Nup…
Good News Daily ^ | May 7, 2008 | Stephen Bloom

Posted on 05/07/2008 8:37:27 AM PDT by LikeLight

Are you a joyful bride-to-be? An eager (or nervous!) groom? Perhaps you have a son or daughter getting married this spring or summer? Perhaps a beloved grandchild? Or maybe a lifelong friend? The peak of wedding season is arriving and many of us have a special acquaintance or family member ready to “tie the knot” in a beautiful marriage ceremony of thrilling romance and holy commitment.

So what does any of this have to do with the law? Why am I raising the subject of weddings in my Christian legal column? I’m writing to brides and grooms and those close to them because I want to encourage you to build the strongest possible marriage from the beginning, a marriage built on the solid foundation of God and His Word. And I’m writing because I want to encourage you not to weaken or undermine that sacred foundation by relying on destructive legal “worldly wisdom” that commonly advises you not to get married without first entering a pre-nuptial agreement.

[snip]

In an era of frequent marital break-ups and complex family structures, our cynical culture and most secular lawyers portray anyone getting married without a pre-nup as either foolish or naive. Before the wedding day, we are warned, wise couples should agree in writing what will happen if and when the marriage dissolves. But is there something wrong with this pessimistic advice? Should Christians begin their sacred marriage relationship as if it were just another business deal? Is it healthy for a husband and wife to be forced into negotiating against one another as legal adversaries, each with their own attorneys, in the days or weeks before they are joined as “one flesh” in the eyes of God?

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at goodnewsdaily.net ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: catholic; christian; judeochristian; marriage; prenups; prenuptialagreement; religion; weddings
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To: rom

You’ll have to forgive me, since my whole worldview is dominated by the Old and New Testaments. I can take a simple conversation to Heaven and Hell in a heartbeat!

I see your point and agree.


81 posted on 05/07/2008 11:48:52 AM PDT by avenir
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To: sr4402
...His/Hers checking accounts...

As you and Dave Ramsey say, a symptom of distrust. Or sometimes, a symptom of disinterest. But either way, seldom a good sign for the health of the marriage relationship.

82 posted on 05/07/2008 11:54:52 AM PDT by LikeLight (http://www.believersguidetolegalissues.com)
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To: Titan Magroyne
I must say that your misquote of me is a very effective way of making your point. "...painful, extended death is imminent." And ending it with a bit of humor is very disarming.

But what if, at the outset of their marriage, they had cared enough for their relationship and resulting offspring to prevent financial incentive to divorce?

Unless you know something for certain, how are we to know that the subject was not brought up and dismissed? Until prenups become the norm instead of the exception, couples will always be reticent in broaching the subject or in agreeing to enter into prenups.

I also wonder if she thought that she wasn't getting enough in a prenup would she do the same thing as she is doing now? Prenup are only as good as our ability to read the future.

83 posted on 05/07/2008 12:13:21 PM PDT by Between the Lines (I am very cognizant of my fallibility, sinfulness, and other limitations.)
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To: JamesP81
Don’t do it. Don’t get married. It is nearly impossible to tell the good ones from the bad ones anymore.

Thanks to Feminism there so much "free milk" available, why would ANY guy "buy the cow"?

84 posted on 05/07/2008 12:14:09 PM PDT by Ignatz (I actually said that with a straight face.)
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To: LikeLight

Well there are no new sins, just a new group of people doing them....as my friend used to say..lol

The bible does say that in 2Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, withut love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutual, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (NIV)

It sounds about right for today.


85 posted on 05/07/2008 12:19:50 PM PDT by Kackikat ((No strong national security, and the rest of issues are mute points; chaos ensues.))
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To: JamesP81
When I got married I knew I was marrying "Miss Right".

I just didn't realize her first name was "Always"!

86 posted on 05/07/2008 12:29:25 PM PDT by BubbaBasher (Without the 2nd amendment there would be no 1st amendment!)
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To: Kackikat
Well there are no new sins, just a new group of people doing them...

Perfectly stated.

87 posted on 05/07/2008 12:30:39 PM PDT by LikeLight (http://www.believersguidetolegalissues.com)
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To: Ignatz
Thanks to Feminism there so much "free milk" available, why would ANY guy "buy the cow"?

Being a Christian, however, I don't allow myself to partake of the free milk. Against my principles. So I'm kind of stuck, you see.
88 posted on 05/07/2008 12:35:17 PM PDT by JamesP81 ("I am against "zero tolerance" policies. It is a crutch for idiots." --FReeper Tenacious 1)
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To: BubbaBasher
When I got married I knew I was marrying "Miss Right".

Dude, the most powerful phrase we can ever utter as husbands is..."Honey, I was wrong."

(and, no, I don't use it nearly enough myself - it's a tough one for us guys to get out)

89 posted on 05/07/2008 12:35:37 PM PDT by LikeLight (http://www.believersguidetolegalissues.com)
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To: Ignatz

“Thanks to Feminism there so much “free milk” available, why would ANY guy “buy the cow”? “

Worse thing is that when you ‘buy the cow’, there is no longer any milk.


90 posted on 05/07/2008 12:36:40 PM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: Between the Lines

“I also wonder if she thought that she wasn’t getting enough in a prenup would she do the same thing as she is doing now? Prenup are only as good as our ability to read the future.”

Good point, though I figure a fair prenup is easier to write early on when everything’s copacetic. Maybe, since our courts are often drawn into divorces where it comes down to he-said/she-said, a prenup option should be offered with the license.

As to those 2 in particular, they began with equal potential: Bright, ambitious, hard-working, interested in continual professional improvement. Now she’s a different person, the last I would have predicted to hurt her children in a campaign of destruction against her spouse.


91 posted on 05/07/2008 12:51:42 PM PDT by Titan Magroyne ("Shorn, dumb and bleating is no way to go through life, son." Yeah, close enough.)
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To: JamesP81

Stinkin thinkin. Marriage is like any other education. You get out of it what you put into it.


92 posted on 05/07/2008 1:03:51 PM PDT by Froufrou
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To: sr4402

My husband and I have “seperate” checking accounts. We do all our banking online. Automatic transfers into and out of various accounts. We can move money between accounts manually in two minutes and both have access to all accounts (they are all accessed off a common page).

We use the seperate accounts for bookkeeping purposes. He has X amount in his every week for gas, lunches, etctera. I have Y amount for gas, groceries, what I need. That way I know that when I go to the store for a loaf of bread, I’ve got ten bucks in the account. No waiting a day or two for the charges to show up.

So I don’t really think of them as seperate accounts. Both our names are on all our accounts. It’s just for bookkeeping. Now, when we were doing premarital counseling, there were a ton of couples who were planning on keeping their finances entirely seperate - “his” and “her” bills, paychecks, accounts, everything. That’s stupid. Not much of a partnership there.


93 posted on 05/07/2008 1:05:18 PM PDT by JenB
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To: JenB

That’s how I feel too, but our kids do it and it apparently is working. I’ll ask again in Nov. after their first year together.


94 posted on 05/07/2008 1:13:59 PM PDT by Froufrou
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To: JenB
Both our names are on all our accounts.

That's the key, because you both "own" the accounts and the information is transparent to both of you. The trouble usually comes when one spouse starts doing things with separate accounts not visible to or accessible by the other.

95 posted on 05/07/2008 1:17:42 PM PDT by LikeLight (http://www.believersguidetolegalissues.com)
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To: LikeLight

That’s mighty romantic of you, Henry Beecher. But women who won’t sign pre-nups will be more likely destined for being passed around by the least knowledgeable peasant men or for spinster-hood.


96 posted on 05/07/2008 1:41:29 PM PDT by familyop (cbt. engr. (cbt), '89-'96, Duncan Hunter or no-vote)
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To: Titan Magroyne
Ostensibly I agree with the premise that began this thread. But watching a good man and his innocent children get treated like this ... makes me think. I’ve not yet found my lifelong mate, but now I see there are worse things than being alone.

By God, you've got that right. Living alone is doable and surviveable. Some of the alternatives aren't.
97 posted on 05/07/2008 2:03:57 PM PDT by JamesP81 ("I am against "zero tolerance" policies. It is a crutch for idiots." --FReeper Tenacious 1)
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To: LikeLight
But, thankfully, for the rest of us weaker folk the Bible encourages and celebrates marriage.

*sniff* I look down my nose at you weaklings.

98 posted on 05/07/2008 2:15:19 PM PDT by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: Titan Magroyne

My question is this: Was it the money that caused her change in behavior? Or would it have happened naturally over time.

Would he want to live with a woman like this whose behavior was just “suppressed” by a pre-nup? To me, that’s like saying, “Yeah, I can live with the monster in the basement as long as I keep it chained up and throw it a steak every other night”.

I do feel for your friend however. That’s a terrible situation that he and their children have been placed in. If this woman cannot see what she is doing to her children and a fellow human being (her husband) then I feel for whichever man enters her life in the future.

You know what the weird and scary thing is? Some guy will fall for her even after hearing this story and meeting her ex-husband!


99 posted on 05/07/2008 2:41:02 PM PDT by rom (Real Conservatives don't vote for Socialists with an (R) next to their name.)
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To: rom

What a sweet, beautiful, and wise post!


100 posted on 05/07/2008 2:51:05 PM PDT by coop71 (Being a redhead means never having to say you're sorry...)
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