Prenuptial agreements: To sign or not to sign?

?????? 婚前協議是指將要結婚的男女雙方為結婚而簽訂的、于婚后生效的具有法定約束力的書面協議。制定婚前協議的主要目的是對雙方各自的財產、債務范圍以及權利歸屬等問題做出約定，以免將來離婚或一方死亡時產生爭議。“婚前協議”用英文可表述為：prenuptial agreement或者premarital agreement。請看Wikipedia的英文解釋：

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.

婚前協議，通常縮寫為prenup或prenupt，指有意成婚或者彼此承諾的人在結婚、民事結合（即同性結婚）或者正式注冊之前簽署的一份協議。婚前協議的內容可能不盡相同，但是普遍都包括離婚或婚姻破裂時財產分配以及配偶撫養方面的條款。有時可能還會包括因通奸而導致離婚時財產沒收以及對于監護權的進一步要求等條款。

?????? 這里的premarital意即“婚前的”，更多相關的表達如：premarital health check/premarital check-up（婚前體檢，婚檢），premarital cohabitation（婚前同居），premarital property（婚前財產），premarital property notarization（婚前財產公證）。

?????? 現代人離婚概率越來越高，甚至在國外，保險公司都有離婚保險了。明星們的婚前協議總讓人津津樂道，如張柏芝、小S等都簽了婚前協議，為保障財產等權益。現實中，國內也有年輕人開始向“現實的西方人”、向明星們學習，把簽訂婚前協議列入婚戀議程。

?????? 為此，網絡上也有不少人在議論，究竟該不該簽婚前協議？簽嘛，覺得傷感情；不簽嘛，覺得沒有保障。究竟該怎么辦？請看中國網轉載央視的新聞報道：

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?

（來源：中國網學英語頻道）