Really, marriage has a several core purposes. Historically, in Western Europe, it was to define inheritance, forge legal bonds between families and give people a church-approved outlet for their sexuality. Germany had this nifty inheritance tradition where all properties were split equally among their owner's sons upon his death. In order to keep an estate from fracturing into tiny spits of land during peace-times, it became necessary to ensure that most of the boys didn't hold onto a real inheritance. To ensure that a single man inherited (generally the eldest true-born son), the others would be shipped off to become monks or their wives' families would sign contracts that essentially said that she and her children would be cared for, but wouldn't inherit anything. This sort of contract would also be used if a man of greater wealth or social standing married "below" himself. These marriage contracts prevented in-fighting and helped in maintaining the family's wealth. Prenups are the legal and social step-children of these marriage contracts. In the USA, we prefer not to talk about class, but we do have starkly divided socioeconomic classes, and this is part of how a rich family can "protect" itself against a lower class spousal interloper. Honestly, it really is nothing personal. It's legal, and it probably means your inlaws are classist assholes who don't trust you. Maybe find a different person to marry?
May 11 2016 03:44 PM
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