Premarital Agreements and Disclosure
Premarital agreements are becoming more and more common, but they are still controversial -- a lot of people are horrified by them. However, even if you are one of these people, I think you can find value in one part of the premarital agreement process: where each spouse discloses his or her financial information to the other. I would take this a step further, and also do what Mary Hunt, the founder of DebtProofLiving.com, suggests in an article in today's Wall Street Journal:
Ms. Hunt advocates sharing credit reports before marriage, which can reveal a runaway spender. "It's more important than a blood test. It's a character reference."
This piece of advice comes in an article written by Jeffrey Zaslow, entitled "Financial Infidelity: When It's OK To Shop Behind Your Spouse's Back." The article is well worth reading (as is most everything Mr. Zaslow writes) -- you can find it here (subscription required).
