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Sex Contracts Through the Years   Recently updated !


It’s no surprise that more often than not, bedroom action starts losing its fire when the relationship reaches a certain stage, especially if you consider the stress that come with a marriage, such as children, expenses, health, or career. This, however, is something you can actually avoid when put into paper.

The introduction of the “lifestyle” clause in prenuptial agreements might sound new to us, but it actually has been around for a really long time. This is done to ensure that at no matter what costs, sex is never not an option, along with other things like what to do with infidelity or how and when you need a mandatory vacation. Of course, this decision would come with a price, and it has to be agreed upon by both parties before anything. If this still sounds quite unusual to you, you could take a look at how sex contracts were done in the past.

Mecca and Katb el-Kitab

An integral part of an Islamic marriage is a marriage contract, or the Katb el-Kitab, which is basically a prenup that contains the responsibilities the husband and wife should adhere to. Prophet Muhammad’s great-granddaughter, Sakina Bint al-Hussein, was one of the very first people to put sexual restrictions into writing, which in this case was absolute monogamy. She forbid her husband to disagree with her on anything or to approach other women, and when he did, she brought him to court to settle the matter. 

Ancient Mesopotamia and the dowry

The tradition of paying dowry – a sum of money or property brought by a bride to her husband – during an arranged marriage dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. Their law regards marriages without a signed contract represented by their families to be invalid. In this contract, obligations to be fulfilled by the bride and groom during their marriage such as the paying of the dowry, a wedding feast and ceremony, moving in to the home of the father-in-law, as well as intercourse resulting into pregnancy are stated. Any violation of this contract could result to having the bride returned, along with her dowry, back to her family.

Hebrews and the Ketubah

It is also a Hebrew tradition to have a marriage contract or a Ketubah. The original purpose of this contract was to protect the woman by safeguarding the husband’s financial obligation to her in case of an unlikely divorce or death. Another important clause in this contract was the frequency of sexual intercourse, and the obligation of a man to give his woman pleasure as this was her right. Any violation of this contract would render it void and would give the wife the right to a civil divorce.

Modern-day Prenups

The frequency of sexual intercourse in a marriage is a possible addition to a couple’s prenuptial agreement which would fall under the “lifestyle” clause. But although this is allowable, the extent by which it is enforced would be a case-to-case basis, as well as it will be dependent on the country or state which you are in. Forced sexual intercourse, for example, may be an invalid reason to sue because if the law enforces it then it may be concluded that the specific government enforces rape. Most prenups that contain clauses for sex should also contain a severability clause that would protect the other clauses in it even when some are ruled invalid.

If you believe in the possibility of coming to a sexual standstill during the course of your marriage, then it might be beneficial for you to include a clause that ensures your sexual stamina. Besides, it’s never wrong to play safe and be secured.

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Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

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