A Post-Mortem on Prenup Rulings

* Re “Why Should a Wife Rank Lower Than an Employee?” (Orange County Voices, Sept. 24):

Gail Frommer presents an interesting dilemma: Why shouldn’t a wife have the same rights as an employee? But while the employer-employee relationship is based on economics, the marital relationship is supposed to be based on love.

As a woman and as a family law lawyer, I have ambivalent views about the two recent California Supreme Court decisions upholding prenuptial agreements (giving a potential spouse the opportunity to waive his or her rights to spousal support and community property). Are women still to be treated as so naive that they must be protected from themselves, or, in the alternative, should this paternalistic approach be discarded because women are now equal citizens?

The seeds of future divorce are often planted when the soon-to-be bride puts pen to paper on an agreement that tells her she is not to be trusted. Often those rose-colored glasses will blind her to the inevitable failure of the marriage. If she does not work outside the home and years go by, the wife may find herself with faded looks and limited earning ability. Thanks to that prenuptial, she may also discover herself facing a very bleak financial future.

There is a lesson to be learned here, and any woman signing a prenuptial had best be wary. If you use marriage to retire from the work force (or perhaps never enter it in the first place) and it does not work out, you may find yourself in one sorry predicament. It may not be fair, but that’s how it is.

BONNIE ANN BAKER

Orange