Through the years, the major reason why two people come together and commit to being each other's spouse despite some of the constitutional downsides of marriages is love, which is a beautiful thing; however, with time, it's as though love has slipped out of this picture, as we've come to see many delve into marriage with the intention of divorcing after a few years so they can cart away half the assets of their spouse, and so that's probably why the prenuptial agreement (where couples get to decide how their individual assets will be shared in case of death or divorce) came to live. I understand these agreements raised lots of eyebrows, but my conclusions at the end of this write-up will help you understand that a prenuptial agreement is not entirely a shade of curse but also a blessing in disguise.
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If you're still here after how I concluded my first paragraph, then I must commend you because I'm sure some people won't buy the idea, but for me to say that, I'll tell you my reasons. After all, I'm not entirely in support of or against signing the prenuptial agreement, but then before I delve into why it's a blessing and a curse, I'd first like to talk about marriages. You see, while growing up, getting married is painted as one of the best things that can ever happen to anyone, especially if it's with someone you so much adore and love, and when you look at some couples around you or in some movies, you won't know when you start envying them or longing to get married soon so you'll experience the same safe haven married life has to offer.
Unfortunately, the reverse is the case nowadays; many only delve into marriages because of what they'll get out of it, especially if their partner happens to die or they divorce each other along the line. We have so much exact money and material things to the point where love is out of the picture. If you listen to the stories of different people who lose one thing or another due to marriages, you'll be shocked and left in awe. In fact, many of them won't be shy to tell you they regretted getting married or wished they had signed a prenuptial agreement prior to them getting married.
Now talking about this agreement, I think it'll favor the wealthy people or celebrities the most, for instance, actors, musicians, sportsmen, and the like. We've heard countless stories of their partners divorcing them and how it led to them going broke. Take, for example, Emmanuel Eboué, who used to play for Arsenal. He went from being rich and earning millions weekly with loads of properties to losing almost everything and ended up sleeping on the street because his wife divorced him. Speak to someone like that about a prenuptial agreement, and he'll gladly wish he had signed such prior to how things went south for him after his divorce.
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Not forgetting how the likes of them, world number 1 in golf, Tiger Woods, also lose over $100 million dollars in settlement for his divorce case with his spouse, I understand he's partly responsible for that one because of his infidelity issue, but then the divorce and all that he lost lead to a mental health issue for him, and he went down the drain from being world number 1 for many years to 58 in the world. It's that crazy how marriage can affect one in diverse ways, making you wonder if everyone should just boycott it.
Before I delve into the positive and negative sides of prenuptial agreements, let's delve into some of the major reasons why many people are seeking them. Now, last but not least, the issue of divorce that plagues marriages is the ongoing divorce saga going on between Pep Guardiola, one of the world's best football managers of all time, and his wife, who wanted him to quit his job in England and return to her in Spain, else they'll divorce. Now, personally, I have this theory that one of the major reasons why Manchester City is suffering one of their worst ever runs under Pep is due to the divorce issues going on. I mean, what happens to the wife moving to England with him, or why is he trying to cart away half of the properties he earns from the same job? You now ask him quite, I believe the psychological effects of that issue are what is affecting his managerial downfall with City this season.
With all of the above being said, I believe many of these people affected by this issue will wish they had signed a prenuptial agreement because it'll at least make them decide how their individual assets will be shared in the case of their death or divorce with their partners. Signing this contract helps safeguard their assets to a substantial level because the prenuptial agreement supersedes the traditional marital law guiding how spouse assets will be shared at the point of divorce or death to one of the partners, but is this idea, I mean, does it make sense? Isn't love supposed to be enough and will regulate the distribution of one's assets?
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In truth, love should be enough. I mean, that's how it used to be; however, with the likeness of material things over love in marriages, this isn't the case anymore, and that's why you see most of these celebrities refusing to get married to their boyfriend or girlfriend for fear of the fact that they'll lose most of what they have during divorce or their death, even if the partner is the one who orchestrated the death just to get the entire assets to themselves. Isn't that already the case when you see how young men and women are getting married to a wealthy elderly person? Obviously, that's not for that elderly partner, but for what they have and will possess once those parents die, but a prenuptial agreement can change the narrative to an extent.
Remember when I said a prenuptial agreement can also be a blessing rather than the curse we all think it is? Well, major reasons why we think it's a bad idea are because it makes marriage seem like a time bomb that's waiting to explode at any time, but if we tell ourselves the truth, marriages without this signed agreement are also breaking daily, so why the hose against it? Well, also the reason why many are against it is because it prevents the partner from getting a share of their spouse's wealth at the point of divorce or death, but do you know wealth and assets isn't the only thing you can inherit from marriage? Yes, you read that correctly, and that's where what I call the blessing of a prenuptial agreement comes in.
Aside from wealth and assets, one other thing we can inherit from our partner, especially at death, is debt and the repercussions of their financial mismanagement; take, for example, the case of Whitney Houston Estate in 2012. At the death of Whitney, her husband, who she had divorced before her death, was made to pay some of her debt in 2018. Another is the case of Suze Roman, a financial expert who, at the death of her husband, inherited his debt. Heath Ledger's death in 2008 is another typical example of inherited debt one can acquire at the point of their partner's or ex-partner's death and a big reason why a prenuptial agreement is a must that can help you prevent yourself from getting caught in a crime or debt you know nothing about.
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So will I gladly sign this agreement before I get married or not? It's worth noting that I don't know at this point in time if I will or not, because at the end of the day we've seen how it can be of help in helping you keep your assets intact from malevolent partners and how it can also save you from inheriting debt you know nothing about. At the end of the day, I guess everyone should do what they think is right; personally, I'll say we all let love lead, but who knows the inner intent of the person you're joyfully getting married to?