Premarital agreements

[Biff]

I am looking for information on premarital agreements in the D.R. I have been told that the Officer of the Civil State has a form for this, but then was told that it no longer exists. Is there a form, or do people just write one in spanish and have it signed by the officer of the civil state? I am also looking for an Officer of the Civil State in the Cabo Francis Viejo area in order to do the marriage service. I would appreciate any information that I can get regarding these matters.

 

[Ello]

According to friends of mine in Santo Domingo, such form was abandoned because it was very hard to enforce. They think the law still exist but your best bet is to find the answer from the source. Start with Suprema Corte de Justicia at http://www.suprema.gov.do I'm sure they will have the proper answer to your question.

Barbara

 

[ECH, M.D.]

My advice is to consult with a competent attorney in this matter.

 

[ChicacagoChris]

My advice, being a seasoned attorney here in Chicago is to find an honest and competent attorney in the D.R.

 

[Eddy]

My advice is not to get married.

 

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Premarital agreements must be done by a notary (in the D.R., to be a notary you must also be an a lawyer) with all the formalities established by Notarial Law ("Ley del Notariado") and articles 1394 to 1397 of the Civil Code.

 

[Sarah]

I'm with you Eddy. If you cannot trust the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with...why bother? Get real.

 

[NewT]

Good point, but consider this

If you CAN trust the person you are with, then why bother?

 

[NewT]

I meant to say "why bother marrying"

I meant to say: If you CAN trust the person you are with, why bother marrying?

One answer may be that a marriage is a business agreement among other things. Sometimes it is no more than a business agreement, particularly when immigration officials are involved.

 

[Sue]

What does trust have to do with it. Most people enter into marriage full of love and trust and hope. But when 50% of marriages end in divorce, why wouldn't you protect your assets especially if you have accumulated a healthy nest egg. Love is great and all but lets face it, it doesn't always last and when it's over money always becomes the battle ground.

 

[Sarah]

Pardon me Sue, but TRUST has EVERYTHING to do with it. You don't have LOVE without it. I'm saying the same as NewT - just don't get married. Then again, a business deal is an entirely different scenario, one I hadn't taken into consideration. Nor would I.

 

[Biff]

I did ask for information, not opinions!

To everyone who responded to my message I appreciate it, although most of you were too busy jabbing about your opinion about premarital agreements, when in fact I never asked for your opinions! Sue, I appreciate what you had to say, yes it's true that 50% of marriages do end in divorce and let's be realistic here. I was divorced once before and don't ever want to spend another day in court with the headaches, never mind the money that only the lawyers will end up with. I would rather live my life with peace of mind. Now, if we can all get back on track and read the first message which I posted, then maybe I can obtain some more valuable information like a couple of you did give already.

 

[Gunnar]

There is a VERY good reason for getting married with or
without premarital agreement: I'm not immortal. If I die
before my (dearly loved) wife, the marriage certificate
secures my wifes position. Similarily, a premarital
agreement would secure the position of any relatives of mine
that I'd like to protect. Not all marriages automatically
comes with full altruistic love for all of the partners
relatives, even if the marital love and trust is full and
complete. In my case, without the marriage certificate,
any belongings could easily end up at some distant
never-heard-from relative who probably don't even speak
my wifes language. That would NOT be to show my wife
the love, trust and respect she deserves!
/Gunnar

 

[Sonny]

Excellent point Gunnar,if a person already has a family from a first relationship and then decides to re-marry well it does'nt leave too much room for protection if the person should die or the marriage ends in divorce.Why should the children have to lose property,money etc that would have come to them anyways.As for myself I would'nt expect any share of property that my wife may have in the DR,land that would have been passed down from generation to generation and then because of a divorce or death the person should half to lose a part of their wealth?.As another poster had said it is basically a business deal and is is fair to both parties.Although what ever property,belongings that were purchased after the marriage should be divided equally.

 

[Gunnar]

Yepp. Many avoids thinking of their mortality, but it is
a fact of life. The marriage itself can be all "hunky-dory",
but when the partner dies, it all becomes a "business-deal"
between the survivors. Who did NOT promise each other "eternal
love and respect".

I didn't think of the situation of
earlier marriage kids, since I don't have any (I really
have to work with my inflated ego...), but of course
that's the more common case. ( I simply don't have any
close relatives still living, that's why I referred to
"long-distant relative")

Thanks for your fine post! /Gunnar

 

[Fabio J. Guzman]

I'd recommend a prenuptial to almost any person who marries with existing assets. Why? Because Dominican law as is stands is just plain unfair to the spouse who has assets at the time of the marriage. Pursuant to current Dominican law, all assets (except real estate) belonging to the spouses before marriage become community property at the time of marriage, unless, of course, a prenuptial is agreed upon. So suppose the groom is penniless and the bride has $100,000 in stocks, bonds and cash from her savings. As soon as says the words "yes, I do", $50,000 go to the husband.

 

[NewT]

Information: Get a local lawyer *DC*

 

[Gunnar]

...which she might be willing to out of love or whatever.
End point is that I think (you might correct me on this one
Sr Guzman, I'm only a layman) it also means that the "yes"
means 50.000 to husband AND AFTER HIS DEATH, HIS FAMILY, to whom
she might not feel as loyal.

What I want to address is just this,
what many overlook: none of us are immortal, and the most common
case is that one partner deceases long before the other. Sorry,
but that's a statistical fact. Thus, even if I'm only a layman,
I think that BOTH the marriage certificate AND the prenuptial
agreement are legally, as well as morally important.

I don't know where dominican law would place any assets of mine
if I were NOT married, probably it would be up to any swedish
representation, who would then find my "nearest relative",
according to swedish law. That would, in my case, mean someone
I might heard about, but never from.

There are always strange situations one might overlook
in the "heat" of a wedding, but that might strike back,
not only at a legal divorce, but even after "death us do part".

I think that is important for anyone to realize, and that it
might be an even better motive for the TWO papers!

Bests/Gunnar