Prenuptial agreements should not be recognized in divorce courts

Pre-nuptial agreements are no more unfair or unpredictable than any other kind of contract is. They've been around for decades and are standardised to minimize the risk of harm occuring to the individuals involved in the contract while still maintaining their right to agreen on the terms of the divorce. Pre-nups have strict legal criteria they have to abide by: 1. agreement must be in writing (oral pre-nups are always prohibited); 2. must be executed voluntarily; 3. full and/or fair disclosure at the time of execution; 4. the agreement cannot be unconscionable; 5. it must be executed by both parties "in the manner required for a deed to be recorded", known as an acknowledgment, before a notary public. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenuptial_agreement]] It is unfounded to say that those contracts are taken too lightly or at the heat of the moment. Those contracts are prepared and written by a solicitor, who is an objective 3rd party. This is the guarantee that the contract will be fair and serious. Even if the solicitor, for some reason, is not an objective 3rd party, then both participants of the pre-nuptial agreement have the possibility to present the agreement to a 4th, 5th, 6th etc. attorney if they have any doubts about the agreement. "Parties must wait seven days after the premarital agreement is first presented for review before they sign it, but there is no requirement that this be done a certain number of days prior to the marriage and prenups often take months to negotiate." [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenuptial_agreement]] One would struggle to imagine how such a process could be undergone lightly and without considering all the ramifications of the agreement. Moreover, in order for a pre-nup to be recognisable in a court both parties must have a lawyer present to verify the validity of the contract and in some cases, the parties retain a private judge to be present during the signing, to be sure that neither party has been coerced into the agreement [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prenuptial_agreement]]. This insures that the agreement is indeed fair and reasonable. Concerning children: we, the opposition, agree that children are an important part of a marriage and, in fact, most pre-nups are drafted in a way so as to take the birth of children into account. When one spouse has decided to devote a bigger share of his/her time and effort in raising children, the pre-nup can be altered accordingly or may simply expire with a "Sunset provision" [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_provision]]: in Maine, the agreement will automatically lapse after the birth of a child, unless the parties renew the agreement. What we don't agree with is that the fact that pre-nups cannot hold custody of the child doesn't mean that they shouldn't hold for other things such as wealth division. Children are individuals and the state has a duty toward them, the parents cannot be free to treat their child in any way they want. However in other areas the couple should be granted the liberty to agree on the terms of divorce, because they are grown individuals and are responsible for their own decisions. Again and again, the opposition raises the issue of fairness. pre-nups are by definition fair, as they are the couple’s own terms and not those determined by the courts. The following points also deserve review. 1. To prove that only the related parties are effected: child custody cannot be regulated by prenuptial agreements. 2. To prove that the argument of changing circumstances is not justified: Pre-nuptial agreements take into account the possibility of changing circumstances (such as the birth of children) by allowing amendments. 3. To prove that pna’s are not the result of arbitrary emotional decisions: pre-nups are standardized. To the contrary, post-nuptial agreements are logically more likely to be influenced by resentment. The opposition has provided many superfluous and irrelevant opinions about the philosophy of love ect.; in truth, their most convincing arguments are 1) societal damage (although pre-nups are fair, individuals cannot be trusted with the freedom to make their own decisions because they can become a nuisance to the state and by extension to other citizens when one of the parties is harmed by the contract) and 2) contract abuse (in which one of the parties is uniformed and is incapable of adequately and intelligently representing one’s own interests in the contract. clearly, no contract is immune to abuse, and this is more related to the nuances of the law, not the nature of its philosophy). Most importantly however, it is not even relevant whether pre-nups are fair or not – the oppositions argument is nullified by the courts’ duty to honor the decisions of responsible adults deciding their own future in a democratic society that should honored those respectable wishes. The state should remain neutral between all its citizens’ claims. This means that all contracts formed between its citizens must be respected and honoured. Pre-nups are not an exception.