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4. Why prenups are not working in Catalonia (yet) ... but they probably will in the future

Why prenups are not working in Catalonia (yet) ... but they probably will in the future

01/12/2013

We have seen it thousands and thousands of times in the American movies, yet people down here do not even think of it as something they can actually do in our country. I am talking about prenuptial agreements. «That's American stuff», they say. «This is not Hollywood», others say. What they do not know is that the last modification performed on the Catalan Civil Code (CCCat) grants them equal opportunities as to a person, let's say, from California. The article 231-20 CCCat is the door thru which prenuptial agreements have entered our Civil Law, although in a very silent way.

There is still a long, long way to go before reaching American standards. Nevertheless, I have the feeling people are going to learn fast. As a matter of fact, with regard to anything concerning "matrimonial" issues, either you learn fast or you die. That's the way it is, like it or not, folks. This is not the 19th century anymore, so you'd better accept it as soon as possible: your marriage will not last "till death do you part", fellow. Prenups become, thus, a very intelligent option.

I have diagnosed two kinds of attitudes towards prenups:

1) Marriage first-timers. In Catalonia, no-one (and I really mean it: no-one) will ever dare mentioning prenups to their partner when they are first-timers. That is the main difference between us and the USA. Last day I was talking to a judge and teacher of Civil issues, and he told me: "It's kinda curious; people discuss the wedding flowers, the music, the menu ('and all that crap', I thought to myself but did not say it), but they never discuss the matrimonial regime, which is the really important thing here". Oh yes! I could not agree more... However, it is going to be a long time before our people consider the "prenup talking" something normal, the way it already happens in other countries.

2) Marriage second (or further)-timers. This is the group where the miracle has started to happen. Some people who have gone thru a first, disastrous marriage, will not even think of a second one if they cannot arrange some issues before saying "I do". This applies particularly to men, who have been highly mistreated -in legal terms- until very recently, in the Catalan courts. Fortunately for all (men and women), this situation has changed. But the fear of fatal consequences when you marry happily but, most of all, divorce hatefully has become a feature which is here to stay. As I said before, this is not the 19th century anymore, therefore many of the things we used to take for granted will not be the same again. The sooner one reacts to this fact, the better they will survive. New times, new habits.

But there is a place for hope. People will use different roads to get to the same place, but they will. Me, for instance. I have reached the conclusion that marriage is a bad business, with no need of getting married in order to prove myself right. The simple observation of reality allows me to do so, the same way Newton did not need to throw himself from a building in order to prove the existence of gravity, and we know the existence of far galaxies, though we have not travelled there in a spaceship. We just use the scientific method. Others, however, have decided to do it the hard way. They will reach the same conclusion than I have, though they will thru a much painful method: trial and error. Anyway, at the end, I am sure my fellow Catalan people will understand that "prenup talking" is something not only normal in advanced western societies, but absolutely recommendable nowadays.

When that happens, people will stop looking at me like I was talking about little green men from Mars with antennas in their heads and trumpets for ears, every time I mention prenuptial agreements...