Prenuptial agreements: To sign or not to sign?

       婚前协议是指将要结婚的男女双方为结婚而签订的、于婚后生效的具有法定约束力的书面协议。制定婚前协议的主要目的是对双方各自的财产、债务范围以及权利归属等问题做出约定，以免将来离婚或一方死亡时产生争议。“婚前协议”用英文可表述为：prenuptial agreement或者premarital agreement。请看Wikipedia的英文解释：

A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage, civil union or any other agreement prior to the main agreement by the people intending to marry or contract with each other. The content of a prenuptial agreement can vary widely, but commonly includes provisions for division of property and spousal support in the event of divorce or breakup of marriage. They may also include terms for the forfeiture of assets as a result of divorce on the grounds of adultery; further conditions of guardianship may be included as well.

婚前协议，通常缩写为prenup或prenupt，指有意成婚或者彼此承诺的人在结婚、民事结合（即同性结婚）或者正式注册之前签署的一份协议。婚前协议的内容可能不尽相同，但是普遍都包括离婚或婚姻破裂时财产分配以及配偶抚养方面的条款。有时可能还会包括因通奸而导致离婚时财产没收以及对于监护权的进一步要求等条款。

       这里的premarital意即“婚前的”，更多相关的表达如：premarital health check/premarital check-up（婚前体检，婚检），premarital cohabitation（婚前同居），premarital property（婚前财产），premarital property notarization（婚前财产公证）。

       现代人离婚概率越来越高，甚至在国外，保险公司都有离婚保险了。明星们的婚前协议总让人津津乐道，如张柏芝、小S等都签了婚前协议，为保障财产等权益。现实中，国内也有年轻人开始向“现实的西方人”、向明星们学习，把签订婚前协议列入婚恋议程。

       为此，网络上也有不少人在议论，究竟该不该签婚前协议？签嘛，觉得伤感情；不签嘛，觉得没有保障。究竟该怎么办？请看中国网转载央视的新闻报道：

A pre-nup agreement is no longer such an unfamiliar thing, especially for China's younger generation.

Forget roses and chocolates, dinner dates and dancing. We want to know what people in Beijing really think about love when it comes to prenuptial agreements.

"It's fine! Why not? As long as it doesn't hurt each other's feeling."

"It can be done if necessary. Because a couple should trust each other at first. Money issues may bring hassles within marriage, as well as legal and social issues."

After talking to some others, it seems most are for prenuptial agreements, as long as it is voluntary and built on trust. But there are some who don't believe in signing such contracts.

"We just registered for our marriage and we didn't sign a premarital agreement. Maybe because we don't have much money yet, and we didn't even go to the Notary Office. My wife doesn't even know the figures on my bank account. We own a small business so we aren't so worried about it."

"I haven't really thought about it yet. How should I put it? I think I would support it since it's law-related."

According to legal experts, prenuptial agreements are not only suitable for personal property before marriage but also for property attained during wedlock.

—— Excerpt from To sign or not to sign?

（来源：中国网学英语频道）