I am horrified to see this tragedy. In Australia, Terrance John Jackson has just been convicted of murdering his partner, Marita Ameli Brown, because she sought legal advice about getting a prenuptial agreement.
Divorce can be a really ugly event. Unfortunately, this sort of thing does happen during a bitter divorce. However, I have never heard of such a case involving a prenup before. I can’t even begin to imagine what must have gone through Jackson’s mind.
There was an interesting op-ed in the New York Times recently arguing for privatizing marriage. According to the article, throughout most of history the government was not involved in marriages at all. While religious institutions did get involved, people could still get married without the approval of a religious institution and had the same rights as people married through a religious institution. All a couple had to do was agree with each other that they were married and they were.
Maher (also spelt Mahr and Mehr) is a sum of money that the man agrees to pay the woman in a Muslim marriage contract. The idea is to provide some financial security for the wife. Often, this amount is not paid right away or is payable upon divorce. The question is: does secular American family law uphold this obligation to pay in a religious prenuptial agreement?
The answer is both yes and no. There is not much judicial authority on this issue. A recent Ohio case found that payment of Maher should not be upheld in part because the payment was a religious act. On the other hand, there has been a New Jersey case that upheld payment of Maher as constituting part of a valid contract, rather than a prenuptial agreement.
There have been a lot of good posts in the blogosphere lately about prenuptial agreements. Here’s a roundup of some of the best ones:
1. I Will Only Marry You If We Get a Prenup – Wise is the person who says this. This article emphasizes the importance of getting a prenup.
2. Basics of Prenuptial Agreements. This article is written on a blog about financial prosperity by someone who is about to get married.
