Romance with protection
IT’S AN ENCHANTING evening, and your dreamboat pops the question. You say “yes” and, after your vital signs return to normal, Mr. Right poses another query: “Honey, will you sign a prenuptial agreement?”
Nothing can kill romance faster than the word “prenup,” say lawyers Danny Concepcion and Gaby Roldan-Concepcion, who have been married for 13 years. The couple discussed the often-misunderstood agreement in “Laws of Attraction,” which was part of “Manila’s Bridal Fair of the Century” recently in Century Park Hotel.
“Marriage is not just an emotional and physical union—it’s also a financial union. A prenup and the discussions that go with it can help ensure the financial well-being of the marriage,” said Danny Concepcion, a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law. “With so many marriages ending in annulment or divorce, a prenup is smart financial planning.”
A prenuptial accord, the Concepcions explained, is a contract between two people about to wed that spells out how assets will be distributed in the event of divorce or death. Such agreements have existed for thousands of years in some form or another, particularly in European and Far Eastern cultures, where royal families have always made provisions for protecting their wealth.
Those who fall into any of the following categories can consider having a prenup: those who have assets such as a home, stock or retirement funds; who own all or part of a business; and who have received an inheritance.
It is also advisable to have a prenuptial agreement when one half of the couple is much wealthier than the other; or when one of them sees a big increase in income because his or her business is taking off.
Couples below age 21 have to get the consent and signatures of their parents for a prenup.
According to Danny, it’s usually the parents of the rich party who recommend the prenup in order to protect their wealth. “Iniisip nila na baka pera lang ang habol sa anak nila.” (They think that maybe the other party is interested in their wealth.)
He adds that before the Family Code, there was conjugal partnership. “It’s okay for the couple not to sign a prenup because conjugal partnership is acceptable as the most fair arrangement,” he says.
“In a conjugal partnership, what I own before I get married remains mine,” he explains. “What becomes common to both parties is the income earned by one party’s property. For example, if I own an apartment before I got married, its rental income during our marriage will be shared between us. But the apartment remains my property.”