One aspect of prenups that we haven't discussed here is that marriage DOES require a lot of TRUST.  Each spouse has to trust the other not to have affairs or do other bad things.  I don't and can't watch my wife 24/7 to make sure she doesn't commit adultery.  I simply trust her not to.  And, then, shouldn't she be insulted if I did stalk her all the time to make sure she wasn't even flirting with other men, etc.?  She could rightly respond that she's insulted and offended that I do not trust her.  Same thing applies to prenups, as the prospective wife would rightly be left wondering whether the man trusts her not to want to get a divorce.  I know my wife.  She would NEVER consider a divorce.  That's not even an issue.  Consequently, I would never have even for a moment countenanced getting a prenup in the event of divorce.  That would have indeed been an insult to her.  So it's a bad way to start off a marriage and can kill a relationship from the start, where the wife feels that you don't trust her.  I'd rather deal with the fallout from the civil court system than to basically tell my wife that I don't completely trust her.  For several months, I had a contractor working at our home while I was at work.  I never had the slightest bit of distrust of my wife.  What if I told her that I was going to install a "nanny cam" to make sure nothing ever happened between them?  She would rightly be insulted because that would indeed be a slam on her character.  Besides that, all she would have to do if she really wanted to was to drive off and meet someone elsewhere.  Trust is absolutely essential to the marriage relationship, and a prenup undermines that right out of the gate.  So you'd cause the prospective wife to think, "What does he think of me and my character that he would think me capable of seeking a divorce?  Does he not believe that I am committed to my marriage vows?"

And, on top of everything else, if my wife were to leave me and take the kids, money would be the least of my concerns.  

THIS ^^^^

I am going to add here that it is far better for a woman to marry a man of moderate means, but who is generous and selfless; than marry a rich man who is stingy and a miser.

I'm impressed.

But how about the extraordinary men, (virum virile)... who go the extra mile?

These resourceful, self sacrificing men, catch and fry freshwater fish as an economical protein supplement.


This allows them to keep their single & displaced, cost-of-living budget well below $100/week.

Silly Incred, that's a pic from Dancing with the Gars. 

Such a ridiculous comment.  So you could live on $800 a month, huh?  Post-taxes, that’s $5/hr.  No one can live on that.  

RENT, health insurance, car insurance, car maint, food, water, gasoline, heating/AC, Church donations, misc items - all on $800.  ??  No bleeping way.

Maybe he owns his home/trailer/tent, has no health insurance, no car therefore no maintenance or gas, no heating or a/c, no church.  Who knows?  Homeless people live on far less than $200 per week.

If we turn the question around and ask:  Women, if men could LEGALLY cheat on you, divorce you, take the children and then give you nothing and act like you never existed...aren’t you being “unwomanly” to stand up for your rights?  A good, catholic woman is passive and accepts all things from God, therefore if you didn’t trust your husband and he did these things and you sued him, you’d be uncatholic.  Right?  That’s your logic, isn’t it?  

For those with the Catholic spirit, divorce is simply out of the question. Period. That is the correct disposition.

If your spouse divorces you, that is an indication that he / she does not have the Catholic spirit, and that you did not use prudence and wisdom selecting him / her in the first place, and you must assume the full consequences of your error.

Sure, a spouse may apostatize at any time; in such case, it is a real misfortune. But that does not mean that you should enter into a Marriage with a worldly pre-disposition of distrust and selfishness.

An error in your youth can literally ruin your entire life for real. That is the nature of earthly life and it is a cross to bear. Catholics do not run away from earthly crosses though, but face them whenever they come, with heroic virtue.

Why Catholics should seek solutions from the world?

Second, we live in the world.  We decide things based on sense knowledge.  The same wisdom we use to discern a potential spouse, we must use to acknowledge that human emotion is fleeting and arbitrary.  Only grace can keep a marriage together and grace is only promised to those that pray.  

If you fail to admit that the court system is against men, and against marriages, then you’re naive.  If you think that men should just “accept it and move on” then you’re a feminist. 

Such a ridiculous comment.  So you could live on $800 a month, huh?  Post-taxes, that’s $5/hr.  No one can live on that.  

RENT, health insurance, car insurance, car maint, food, water, gasoline, heating/AC, Church donations, misc items - all on $800.  ??  No bleeping way.

You can rent a room for about $300-$350 a month in my part of the country (utilities included).  There are lots of elderly couples who want an extra income in their retirement and are stretched thin and will rent out rooms.  Of course, my Mother is still alive and I could always move in with her until she passes away ... eliminating rent altogether.  She would probably like the company and the help around the house.  What would I need a house for?  And I would rent it close enough to my job that I could walk or ride a bike or, worst case, ride a bus.  No, I wouldn't have much left over to donate to the Church, but God would recognize that.  Rest would be food and clothing.  As it is I spend no more than $100 per year on clothing (just ask my wife, who sometimes gets on me about that).  I have lots of traditional Hungarian recipes that are extremely inexpensive and yet very satisfying.  $800 would be no problem for me.  I've lived on less than that at different points in my life.