A court has ruled that pre-nuptial agreements apply in England and Wales. Will this bring with it some of the odd marital contracts drawn up abroad?
It may sound the antithesis of carefree romance, but the pre-nuptial agreement looks as though it will become a familiar part of the institution of marriage on these shores.
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that such contracts can have decisive or compelling weight after German paper company heiress Katrin Radmacher’s ex-husband failed in his bid to be awarded a greater chunk of her £100m fortune.
Now, the law in England and Wales falls into line with the United States and much of Europe in recognising agreements drawn up by couples prior to tying the knot.
The article fails to mention what is perhaps the most famous prenup in cultural history (granted, it is most likely fiction): the prenup agreement reported in Bach’s Coffee Cantata – http://www.afactor.net/kitchen/coffee/kaffeeKantate.html
[blockquote][b]Recitative Narrator[/b]
Old Schlendrian goes off
to see if he can find a husband forthwith
for his daughter Lieschen;
but Leischen secretly lets it be known:
no suitor is to come to my house
unless he promises me,
and it is also written into the marriage contract,
that I will be permitted
to make myself coffee whenever I want.
[b]Trio[/b]
A cat won’t stop from catching mice,
and maidens remain faithful to their coffee.
The mother holds her coffee dear,
the grandmother drank it also,
who can thus rebuke the daughters![/blockquote]
Coffee, at that time, was a very pricey commodity. This would perhaps also tops the other examples in the “bizarre” category – and has been with us for more than 200 years. So there is little “new” or “bizarre” about what the BBC is reporting, except that prenups are now allowed in the UK.
Pre-nups are smart, not bizarre. I highly doubt that I will marry in the future but, if I did, I would make sure I had a pre-nup. There is no way I would risk the modest home I bought myself. Everything is up for grabs in the halls of divorce court.
From reading historical novels, I thought somehow that lawyers were involved in marriage settlements for the upper classes in centuries gone by. Those weren’t “pre-nups?”
Teatime2, if you do, be sure to place the original pre-nup in a place where your spouse can’t get to it, ever. My wicked stepmother used a POA to go into my father’s safe deposit box when he was in his final illness and remove and destroy his original. Fortunately we had copies, and the lawyer who prepared it would have testified for us, so she didn’t succeed. And she had a lot more money than he did!
Isn’t it strange how when it comes to discussions of money no one seems particularly concerned with the sanctity of marriage.
Prenups serve only one purpose, enabling the parties to get out of a marriage as cheaply, quickly and painlessly as possible. Maybe getting out of a marriage was never ment to be cheap, quick or painless. But then again, I guess if you can get out quick and easy, why not? You can always change your mind? And we wonder why the divorce rate is so high.
#4, how can one say Amen loud enough to your explanation. This is the simple truth, that money and convenience have replaced committment, trust, and hope. A prenup doesn’t precede a marriage, it precedes a business deal. You want a business deal with your partner, don’t call the partner wife or husband, but officer in a company. The prenup is a verbal scam, like calling civil partnerships “marriages.” Larry