No, this should not be necessary at all because a marriage is not about money. It is about two people desiring to share their life together, without any coercion. Any emphasis on money sends out the wrong signal as to why they would wish to be together: that would be more like a business arrangement than a relationship. However, it probably needs some clear legal guidelines to safeguard the gains, property and achievements of both parties when they are together.
The need for such safeguards is understandable, considering all the divorce settlements which have been disproportionate to the actual length of the marriage and earning power of the individuals concerned. But if there is a clear understanding by everyone, at the beginning, that only the duration of that marriage would be taken into account in a court of law, there would be no need for pre-nups, neither would there be all the angst surrounding unfair payments.
A marriage should be seen to start from the day the couple actually meet one another, not the day they sign their certificate. That emphasises the break with the former lives of the couple and also sets a definite time of duration up until when the marriage ends. Any divorce would then take into account only that period of time the couple are together, which would negate the need for any pre-nuptials. If that is fully understood by all parties, or laid down in the law, there would be no need for lawyers because any claims would be restricted to anything earned and shared within that duration, and not on all the property and possession of the couple.
For example, in Sir Paul and Heather McCartney's case a while ago. They had only been together for 4 years. If it were clearly understood that she would be entitled to 50% of anything he made in that 5 years, which is much fairer, especially as she wasn't around when he was making the rest of his money, then no one would feel aggrieved about such an arrangement. Everything would be confined to that period of time they are actually together. This kind of agreement should make everyone more comfortable about getting married without the need to rob such an important moment of its romance by clinically concentrating on possessions, or who should get what.
