on the subject of pre-nuptial agreements

In my country, who gets what is different from the laws in the US apparently. I can get married with all our belongings put together or with our previous money out of the contract. The legal heirs for that money are the person`s children plus the spouse in equal parts. You can add 1/4 of your belongings to one of your rightful heirs (no more). If you don`t have children with said spouse, the living spouse does not get much. And if you are a working woman, all the assets you buy with your work are yours, whatever kind of contract you have. I think that every case is different, in spite of the law. My husband put the house in my name when he got ill and it`s completly mine. The girls should have had part of other assets (cars and money) but they handed it all to me. If I got married again and the man did not have much money, I would see that he got part of mine if he made me happy. Not all of it, though (maybe the 1/4 I can give).

If I was going to do one I want to put everything in it. Any family heirlooms, jewelry, etc. And property. If you are going to set one up I think it would only be smart to go all out. Why do it for just one or two items. And kids may have their eye on something and fight over it or be hurt if they don't get it. THis can put a halt to all of that. I think legal papers can really do alot of good when the people involved are grieving over your passing. People aren't always thinking clearly and emotions are high.

The only reason for me to marry is because of money, His money! A pre-nup is essential! That way I will know how much I will get When , not if but when, we divorce. If I'm to sell myself into marriage I better know the price!

If your concern is about who inherits what in the event of your passing, it is a will that you need to have in place rather than a pre-nuptial agreement. While I do think a pre-nup is a good idea, it is not a document meant to deal with matters of inheritance.

Sorry, I don't know much about pre-nups. But I did want to jump into this discussion because I just wanted to let you know that I'm glad that your new relationship seems to be going well. Does the past feel distant already? Goodluck!

It is very thoughtful of you to do so.No wonder they say mother's love for their children is strong.Over here premarital property remains with person who owns it before getting married.May yours be a happy and perfect union.

Oh, to cover that situation, everything that you had before you got married goes to them. Half of what is gained after you are married goes to them.Everything that he brought to the marriage goes however he wants to bequeath it, for instance, if he has children from another relationship.

Hi Dawn, I love your discussions as I can relate to most of them in some way or another. I went through this issue with my youngest daughter's father...she was a "surprise" pregnancy. When I got divorced, I started back up again from scratch with all 3 children. He literally took everything and I just wanted to end the battle so I did not fight back. Prior to that experience, I felt that I had nothing so no need for anything like a pre-nup. Even after that, I never gave it much thought. Ok so,I moved into a house with my youngest daughter's dad and we were engaged. It was he who wanted a pre-nup. He earned more than me and he contributed more financially to the purchase of the home than I did. At firt I was insulted. I would never ever be unfair to him under any circumstances. Then I thought..not a bad idea but I wanted one too. I wanted certain stipulations too. We never got further than that. He dropped the whole subject entirely and at the time, I was so in love, I didn't care. We never got married as problems began shortly after moving in. In the end...I moved out and he got everything including the kids beds and dressers...everything but our personal belongings. He stole 2000.00 from me and when I made a claim against our homeowner insurance ( not knowing at the time that it was him) he got the check which was only 200.00 (it was cash stolen) and he kept it. the list goes on. I would never live with a guy without some agreement on how things will be handled in the event of a breakup or a split. Everything counts and you don't realize it until you are in that spot. You want to make sure that if you die that your kids will be taken care of. You really should talk to a lawyer on this. I will say that you should not even live with him without something legal in writing. You both should sit down with a lawyer for this.

I think that's smart. I have no reason for a pre-nup because I have no assets. I also think a lot of people who are entering marriage are so happily blinded by love they don't stop to think that things could go wrong down the road. They always think the other person is so perfect they'll never do anything to end the marriage, or if they do they wouldn't be cruel enough to fight for things they shouldn't have. Sometimes it's best to be prepared even if you think/hope that will never happen. My thoughts are not on pre-nups but on wills. After going through what we went through with my FIL, I want to be sure my kids don't go through that when we go. Instead of a will, we will probably put all of our possessions in one of the children's names once we start getting up there in age, that way they have nothing they need to fight for.. I just wonder with 5 kids what's the best way to do that.. but it's not something I'm worried about right now.. just a thought to save for the future.

Are things moving that fast? Wow! You have your head screwed on the right way Dawn so take legal advice as your children (and you) have to be protected. Probaby all you have acquired since marriage would be joint and you keep all that you acquired before marriage. Something like that I suppose.

In having a pre-nup to protect your kids, i agree with that. As parents we should definitely make sure that our kids will get most of of our hard earned assets.. Especially if they are not biological kids of your husband. We can't be sure of anything if time will come.