Ever wondered if your relationship would benefit from a contract? The answer is probably no … unless you were inspired by the sexual contract in “Fifty Shades Of Grey.”
#1. Cohabitation Agreement
So you’re ready to move in together but not quite ready to say “I do.” You may think you’re being smart by taking one step at a time, but in the end, married couples get a lot more rights in a breakup than unmarried ones. In order to protect yourself in case the situation doesn’t work out as planned, you can make a cohabitation agreement. This agreement will explain who owns what, who gets what (if you part ways), and can even include how you will deal with child support, bank accounts, debt, health insurance coverage, joint purchases and more.
#2. Social Media Agreements
Posted a picture of your significant other sleeping with his mouth wide open on Facebook? It may not only result in a screaming fight — it could end up costing you. According to Mashable, as people are trying to protect their personal and professional image online, social media agreements are working their way into prenups and standalone agreements between couples. As for the standards? You can set the punishments, which, for each couple, will certainly vary. Date night at the ballet, it is!
#3. Pre-Pregnancy Contract
A Slate piece recently reported on a new mutual agreement for sharing child-rearing responsibilities, agreed to before the baby is born. How will you be dividing up the night shift? Will the chores now be split up differently? Are you both in agreement of how long one parent will be taking off from work? What will child care look like? These are all things that are better to talk about before the baby comes to relieve some of the stress. No, not everything will go perfectly to plan, but it will help avoid someone resenting the other because he or she feels they are taking on more of the work.
#4. A Relationship Agreement
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan had a relationship agreement before getting married. Since Mark is a busy man running Facebook and all, Priscilla made sure to include “one date per week, a minimum of a hundred minutes of alone time, not in his apartment and definitely not at Facebook” in the contract. The last thing people associate contracts with is romance, but this is a way to actually make sure the romance will continue in a relationship between two busy people. Of course you can include anything else in your contract that you feel you need. Does anyone want the other to cut off any exes or toxic people in his or her life? How often do you expect to have girls’ or boys’ night away? According to The Daily Mail, attorneys say that more and more married and unmarried couples are signing contracts that detail how often they will have sex.
#5. Pet Ownership Agreement
If you’re living together and decide to buy a pet, then it’s important to talk about how custody would go down if you end up splitting up. Will you try to share custody? Will only one person get custody? A pet ownership agreement covers all of these custody queries, and you’ll be grateful for getting something in writing if a nasty breakup does happen. (This can either be included in your cohabitation agreement, or be its own separate contract.)
Source: Magazine.foxnews.com