Plenty of anecdotal evidence indicates that people in bygone years and decades rued ever bringing up the topic of a marital contract with their soon-to-be spouse or just-married partner. For years, media stories regularly trashed the idea of a couple executing a prenuptial agreement or postmarital contract, stating that such pacts were like cold water on a fire — that is, the antithesis of love.
My, how times have changed across the country, including in Georgia, with strong and impeachable data showing that public perceptions toward such agreements have changed mightily. Millions of persons now say that they favor the idea of a prenup or postnuptial contract, with that number growing all the time.
What has changed?
Alton Abramowitz, the president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), says that one contributing factor is likely the changing — that is, the improving — economic climate across the nation.
In tandem with the country’s claw back from the recession of recent years has been a steady rise in many areas in home values. That has replaced a concern among divorcing spouses over which party will have to deal with a depressed or underwater home with a concern that materially appreciating assets will have to be shared.
And thus the drafting of a prenuptial or, in some cases, a postnuptial agreement. The division of assets is right near the top of the list for items that couples seek to clarify through a written understanding, as is the safeguarding of personal property and spousal maintenance.
The AAML recently conducted a survey on attitudes toward prenups. A central finding indicated that a clear majority of divorce attorneys polled are being queried about marital contracts.
Interestingly, too, nearly half of all respondents say that, increasingly, it is women rather than men who are seeking information about such agreements.
Source: Huffington Post, “Prenuptial agreements are on the rise, and more women are requesting them,” Oct. 22, 2013
