This is a read.. But perhaps one of the most important things you will ever digest.

This could also be titled, “Why Prenups Don’t Work”. This all may sound boring, but as a man, you desperately need to get into this. It can actually be quite fun, especially once you understand it. The person who understands contracts and contracting can find it is usually pretty easy to get your way in this system.

A man should have an intimate understanding how contracting works. This includes:

  • An in-depth understanding of what a contract is and the attributes of a contractual relationship
  • The basic principles of offer and acceptance
  • Standard form contract s and electronic contracts
  • The Uniform Commercial Code
  • Consideration
  • Fraud
  • The penal system (criminal courts and jail/prison)
  • How to interact with law enforcement personnel from cops to judges
  • The differences in state and federal laws, lawmaking and courts
  • Family court, marriage and how it is based on contractsWhy a “prenup” doesn’t usually work
  • Conditions and promises as well as breach of contracting

Our modern commercial system is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code. Every country that has a central bank is on the same system. This is why a judgment in America can be ratified in Ireland, Scotland, Germany or Austria.

The UCC even governs our prison system. If you read just the UCC section on warehousing, you will see it describes our prison system to a T.

Offer and counteroffer are vital to understanding. If I ask Joe to go to dinner, that’s a contract offer. If Joe says, “I’ll go to dinner if you buy.”, then that is a counteroffer.

EVERYTHING is an offer. A woman who says, “I’m going to call the police.” or a cop saying, “Show me your license and registration.” are all making an OFFER.

There are FOUR WAYS and only four ways to respond to an offer to contract.

  1. Silence. This is bad. It makes you a debtor. That means you end up owing.
  2. Argument. Also bad. In a civilized society, argument leads to violence. That’s why a lawyer “arguing your case” is actually the worst thing you can do in court. This also makes you a debtor.
  3. Unconditional Acceptance. This would be me walking up to you and saying, “You owe me $100.” and you pull $100 out of your pocket and hand it to me. Although it settles the matter, it’s not usually to your advantage.
  4. Conditional Acceptance. This is where it gets fun.

1 and 2 make you a debtor. 3 and 4 make you a creditor. Always strive to be the creditor.

Commerce is war. He who leaves the battlefield first is the loser. Think of it like ping-pong. When someone makes you an offer, they knock the ball to your side of the table. You owe them a response.

So while the ball is on your side, you are the debtor and they are the creditor. When you return the ball (counteroffer) then they are the debtor and you are the creditor.

Never go to court as a debtor. Also, never go to court unless you have agreement with the other party. So how does this work in real life?

Let’s say I get a bill from a bill collector. That’s a statement. They just literally made a statement. Anytime you make a statement, you have to back up what you state with evidence.

Incidentally, this is why if you aren’t familiar with contracting you should always end any sentence to a cop with a question mark. Once you make a STATEMENT you have to provide evidence. So if you don’t have any ID on you, and the cop asks your name, if you say, “My name is John Doe.” and you can’t PROVE it, he has every right to arrest you or detain you until you have proven your statement. NEVER MAKE STATEMENTS until you either understand contracting intimately or you have an attorney. NEVER. If a cop asks you, “Do you have any drugs in your car or on your person?” return the ping pong ball. “Do you have any evidence I have any drugs in my car or on my person? No? Then how about you let me go on my way?”

A cop’s job is to trick you into making a statement.

So you get this bill. Instead of ignoring it (remaining silent) and allowing them to get an agreement and, eventually, a judgment ratified in the public (court, judge signs a judgment and they then levy your stuff and attach your wages) you should RESPOND. With a Conditional Acceptance. Example:

Your statement dated November 3, 2019 was received on November 6th, 2019. I hereby conditionally accept your offer to pay you $5,263 upon PROOF OF YOUR CLAIM that I owe you $5,263.

Now I’d also go on to list as many conditions as possible. Such as proof of all the elements in the UCC that make up a valid debt. Such as a hand-signed invoice, etc.

If the other party doesn’t respond, you are thereby getting an agreement.

Of course this gets more involved than that. But you get the point. Not one man in a thousand understands contracting. It makes you very powerful.

So why doesn’t a prenup usually hold up during a divorce? Simple. A contract is not what is written on the paper. What is written is a MEMORIAL of the contract. The contract is the agreement between the parties. Contracts are fluid. They have to be. If not, the entire world of commerce would stop.

Let’s say I’m a painter and you and I sign a written contract for me to paint your house for $5,000. We agree on all terms and conditions, such as how long it will take, what will be painted, what color and how many coats, and how durable it will be (fading, etc).

I then go out to my truck and find out that the color we agreed on isn’t available. I ran out and made a mistake. So I ask you if you would like this shade of gray instead of the one we agreed on. You do and we go forward and I use that shade instead of what is written on the contract.

Can you sue me? Sure. Would you win? Maybe. Probably not. Ideally we would amend the written memorial of the contract, but your verbal agreement allowed us to change the contract.

Important takeaway is that a contract isn’t what is written. It is what is agreed to and probably 90% of all contracts aren’t even written.

When you go into a restaurant and order food, try saying you won’t pay because you didn’t sign a contract. It won’t work. The assumption is you were going to get something in return for something of equal value. All contracts rely on an equal exchange. If there isn’t an equal exchange then someone is DAMAGED and that’s when the contentions occur. So you should understand the elements of a breach of contract.

So why isn’t a prenup usually held up in court? Because the parties change the contract after it is memorialized. A marriage is the man, who represents a company (“JOHN DOE”) suing a woman who represents a company (“JANE SMITH”) for her assets, to combine those assets as one company. (“JOHN and JANE DOE”)

The moment you change the contract, the original memorial of the contract doesn’t accurately reflect the contract.

So you both agree that once married, the house you originally owned by yourself is going to remain yours upon divorce. But she moved in. She helped keep it up. She helped clean it. Maybe she redecorated a bedroom. She is developing an INTEREST in the home (the asset).

That’s why a man can move a woman in who has a kid then, a couple years later, get hit with child support on a kid that isn’t his.

Did he act as the father? Then the court will hold him accountable as such.

The whole system makes sense once you understand it.

So as a man, I recommend you get savvy on contracts and contracting and obtain an intimate understanding of our commercial system. The whole thing runs on contracts and contracting.

I recommend you go get three books:

#1 - “Contracts; Examples and Explanations” by Brian A. Blum. This book is awesome and is what beginning law students use. It will give you an understanding of contracts and contracting that not 1% of the population has.

#2 – Black’s Law Dictionary. The older editions are better as they are changing too much in the later editions. I have a 4th and a 9th.

#3 – A Christian bible. The entire system has its roots in Christianity and scripture.

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There are ten maxims of commerce. Review the below link. It lists the ten maxims and their scriptural roots. There is definitely a layer of contracting in the bible.

When we fell in Eden, we entered into contracting. Before, there was no need for it as everyone had everything the would ever have needed. Buying and selling, contracting, wasn’t necessary. So God gave us a way to get along until He fixes the whole mess. That’s the layer of contracting in the bible.

I hope this helps you and I hope it goes a way into helping you arm yourself with the knowledge that all men should have – the knowledge of contracts and contracting. Do not go into battle unarmed. Contracting once helped me hang with an insurance company that desperately didn't want to pay me - and I came out several hundred thousand dollars better because of my understanding of contracts. This knowledge also helped me beat a Federal grand jury indictment.

Bless you all.

Now go read this document to get you started:

http://understandcontractlawandyouwin.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-post-to-pdf-cache/1/ten-essential-maxims-precepts-commercial-law.pdf