[net.social] Marriage contracts

macrev (11/12/82)

A marriage binds people LEGALLY as well as morally.  However, we tend
to forget the legal aspects until they are made painfully clear in
divorce court.  "Love is blind" -- blind to logic, blind to
practicality, blind to the pain people cause one another when a
marriage fails.  Perhaps people should seek legal advice before
they get married, especially if they are going into the marriage
with property or money of their own.  An open, honest approach
to these matters is vital.  We hear so much about the importance
of communication in marriage -- why is it that before we get married
we refuse to admit to ourselves or to others that our marriage
may well fail sometime in the future? I don't see a need for a
contract that spells out who is to do the laundry, but maybe a
limited contract would prevent one partner from taking the other
to the cleaners.  The time to do your thinking about these things
is before marriage.