Marriage, divorce, pre/post-nups & community property laws

A) Would you get married without a prenup?
B) Do you agree with "community property" states like CA - that basically splits everything down the middle during divorce?

I did get married without a pre nup and I live in a community property state.

I think that it should depend how long you're married. If you are only married for a little bit, then why should you split all your stuff up between the two of you?

But if you've been married over 10 years, a lot of the stuff that you have, you acquired during the marriage and should be split.

I wouldn't get married without one....and I'm not rich....

Impact wrote:A) Would you get married without a prenup?

If I had Oprah money......hell the fuck no. Matter fact, doesn't even have to be Oprah money. If I had significant assets that I've built for myself before I met my fiance, then no I wouldn't.

B) Do you agree with "community property" states like CA - that basically splits everything down the middle during divorce?

Depends. You should get what you've earned and what you're entitled to. If you've jointly built that community property, then by all means split it down the middle. If you just slept with somebody for a few years and never worked a day in the marriage, you don't need to get anything.

What's the point in getting married anyway? Why not just live together and call it a day? That way finances are kept separate, assets are kept separate. When the relationship ends, there's no money or property to divide. No attorneys and courts. Just seems easier.

Nystyle709 wrote:

Impact wrote:A) Would you get married without a prenup?

If I had Oprah money......hell the fuck no. Matter fact, doesn't even have to be Oprah money. If I had significant assets that I've built for myself before I met my fiance, then no I wouldn't.

B) Do you agree with "community property" states like CA - that basically splits everything down the middle during divorce?

Depends. You should get what you've earned and what you're entitled to. If you've jointly built that community property, then by all means split it down the middle. If you just slept with somebody for a few years and never worked a day in the marriage, you don't need to get anything.

LOL, what was that bit in Raw? "Half, Eddie!"

Wow do I have opinions about this, and they vary a lot from what I used to believe when I was younger.

I used to believe in palimony, when women who lived unmarried with a man felt they should split the assets when they split up. I no longer believe this. Now, I would say, take some responsibility for yourself. If a guy hasn't married you, don't give him everything you've got, and expect the same from him.

Married, that is different. That is an act of will on both parties part, and the assets accumulated since the marriage should be split evenly, even if one partner did nothing to earn them. That is what marriage is when it comes to property, a statement of, this person and I are sharing everything from this point on.

I see the sense of simply not getting married. I don't believe in legal marriage for people of a certain age. No one agrees with me but that is how I see it.

^^What about assets accumulated before the marriage?

If you played a significant role in the money and assets the two of you made during the marriage, then it's only fair to be compensated for it during the divorce. But if all you did was be their spouse, and didn't add to any of the money coming in, then no. I can understand that it's not fair or "right" for someone to go from living in a posh mansion to being penniless after the divorce. That's why if a woman marries a wealthy man, before they take vows she would make sure he puts in the prenup that if they ever split up, she would get "X" amount of money to survive on. But I can't co-sign taking half earned or extended alimony payments.

It all depends. If I'm married to a rich man and wind up making no earnings of my own because he spent the marriage trying to make me into his domesticated little trophy wife, then I do think I deserve some of his $$$$$. If on the other hand I was active, had my job/career and made enough $$$$ to support myself w/o him, then I can see him not wanting to give up any of his when it's over.

Assets before the marriage, no. I think it should be that anything both own before the marriage stays with them and that is it.

But really, even if one party did nothing during the marriage but sit on his/her ass and eat bonbons, they should still get half of whatever assets were accumulated during the marriage. That is the deal when you marry someone.

It happens to both genders, so you can't complain about something you knew, going in.