Congratulations! You've decided to get married. It's a wonderful time, but there's more to think about than just the perfect wedding and honeymoon. Marriage is more complicated than it used to be. People are marrying later in life and perhaps for the second or third time. Often they are bringing more assets and more liabilities into the relationship, blending children from previous relationships, and generally facing all kinds of new challenges. Marriage contracts, wills and Powers of Attorney are all valuable ways to set your expectations in advance. Do We Need a Marriage Contract? is written in clear, nontechnical language and includes real-life examples based on Canadian cases. Cochrane includes a sample marriage contract to address the critical issues you need to be aware of, including: Protection of assets brought into the marriage The special practical and financial concerns of blending children into new families Family pressure to have a marriage contract Business pressure to have a marriage contract How to have a discussion with your partner and not spoil the romance How marriage contracts work with your wills and Powers of Attorney How to work in a cost-effective way with a lawyer How to avoid the relationship mistakes that lead to divorce This is your future together. Get it right from the very beginning. Take the advice of Michael Cochrane, a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in family law, and carefully consider the numerous issues that can affect your relationship.

"... describes and analyzes three types of agreements: premarital agreements, postmarital agreements, and domestic partnership agreements. A premarital agreement is a contract between prospective spouses, including same-sex couples, made in contemplation of marriage. A postmarital agreement is a contract executed by parties to an ongoing marriage and not incident to a divorce or marital separation. A domestic partnership agreement, sometimes known as a cohabitation agreement, is a contract executed by a couple whose domestic arrangements may not be state-sanctioned. However, the term also includes such an agreement executed incident to a civil union or registered domestic partnership. Generally, all of these agreements are used to define the property and support rights of the parties upon termination of the marriage or other relationship by death or dissolution. Some parties also opt to include financial obligations during the marriage or other relationship. This Portfolio does not cover separation agreements that settle property rights, spousal and child support obligations, and child custody matters incident to a separation or divorce"--Portfolio description.

Congratulations! You've decided to get married. It's a wonderful time, but there's more to think about than just the perfect wedding and honeymoon. Marriage is more complicated than it used to be. People are marrying later in life and perhaps for the second or third time. Often they are bringing more assets and more liabilities into the relationship, blending children from previous relationships, and generally facing all kinds of new challenges. Marriage contracts, wills and Powers of Attorney are all valuable ways to set your expectations in advance. Do We Need a Marriage Contract? is written in clear, nontechnical language and includes real-life examples based on Canadian cases. Cochrane includes a sample marriage contract to address the critical issues you need to be aware of, including: Protection of assets brought into the marriage The special practical and financial concerns of blending children into new families Family pressure to have a marriage contract Business pressure to have a marriage contract How to have a discussion with your partner and not spoil the romance How marriage contracts work with your wills and Powers of Attorney How to work in a cost-effective way with a lawyer How to avoid the relationship mistakes that lead to divorce This is your future together. Get it right from the very beginning. Take the advice of Michael Cochrane, a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in family law, and carefully consider the numerous issues that can affect your relationship.

On her wedding day, Patricia Cotter, the widowed Lady of Pruett, signed a contract agreeing to the following: 1. She would never look at her husband's face. 2. She would never remove the sheets covering the mirrors. 3. She would never ask her husband about his past. In return for doing these things, she will have a secure place for her unborn child and her worries will be over. She has nothing to lose by agreeing to her husband's terms. Yes, she's heard the rumors about Mr. Stephen Bachman. He was said to have killed his first wife, though there is no proof condemning him of the crime. He is aloof and never leaves his manor. He is practically a prisoner in his own home. But as she gets to know him, she begins to believe her husband isn't the beast everyone's made him out to be. There just might be a gentleman worth loving beneath his hard exterior. The questions is, can she get him to let go of the past so he can open himself up to the possibility of a fairytale romance?

"The Marriage Contract" is included in "Scenes from Private Life" and follows the marriage of a Parisian gentleman to beautiful Spanish girl, who comes into a lot of money. Presenting an intriguing portrait of the relationships between people, their romantic adventures, and marriage contracts in general, the novel abounds in philosophical, ethical, and financial dialogues. The naiveté of the characters and their illusions of married life clash with a bang against reality, resulting in unnecessary and often humorous suffering. Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) was a French novelist and playwright, most famous for his collection of novels and plays, collectively called "The Human Comedy". His detailed observation of humanity and realistic depiction of society makes his one of the earliest representatives of realism in Europe. He was a master-creator of complex characters that often found themselves in ambiguous moral dilemmas.

Emphasises the significant role of the individual unwritten contract encompassing the expectations and promises - both conscious and unconscious - that each partner brings to a marriage or committed relationship. When expectations do not mesh, the need for therapy becomes evident.