Relationship Agreement: A Contract for Lovers

By Herman Franck and Sabrina Chen

Relationship Agreement: Avoid Breakup.

Relationship Agreement sets forth acceptable and unacceptable conduct for people in romantic relationships. Sometimes spelling out agreements can avoid breakups.

Couples can choose from the series of agreements by initialing each chosen page. Below each agreement is a space to handwrite proposed consequences in the event of a violation. The booklet includes an appendix with proposed consequences, and encourages couples to come up with their own ideas of what happens in the event of a breach.

The appendix also sets forth dispute resolution forms. The author has established a web court (relationshipagreement.com) available to willing couples that wish to submit a dispute (at no charge) to the judgment of the Relationship Agreement Court. (The names can be changed to protect the guilty).

This is not a book about community property, spousal support or other matters commonly set out in pre nuptial agreements. This is a book about how two people in a relationship will conduct themselves toward each other, with the overall goal of avoiding breakup and maintaining the relationship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780595755547

Herman Franck

Herman Franck, Esq. is a capitalist without capital who resides with his mainland Chinese pretty communist raised and educated ?show me the money? wife, Sabrina, and their two energetic sons, Adam and Alex. His formal education is in law and economics from U.C. Berkeley B.A. (honors) in Political Economy (1981), and Georgetown University (Juris Doctor 1985and M.A. Economics 1985).

Book preview

Copyright © 2004, 2006 by Herman Franck, Esq.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse 2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100 Lincoln, NE 68512 www.iuniverse.com 1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-30728-9 (pbk)

ISBN-13: 978-0-595-75554-7 (ebk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-30728-0 (pbk)

ISBN-10: 0-595-75554-2 (ebk)

CONTENTS

LOVE IS TWO POLES BY HERMAN FRANCK, ESQ.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE

RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT

SECTION 1. PARTIES TO THE AGREEMENT

SECTION 2. AGREEMENT TO ENTER INTO A RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT

SECTION 3. CONSEQUENCES IN EVENT OF VIOLATIONS

SECTION 4. STATEMENT OF RELATIONSHIP

SECTION 5. STATEMENT OF EQUALITY

SECTION 6. THE PARTIES ARE DIFFERENT

SECTION 7. ENUMERATION OF DIFFERENCES

SECTION 8. IMPORTANCE OF HONESTY

SECTION 9. DUTY OF LOYALTY

SECTION 10. NO AFFAIRS/DALLIANCES

SECTION 11. NO PROHIBITION OF FANTASIES

SECTION 12. AFFAIR AVOIDANCE AGREEMENT

SECTION 13. CONDUCT CONSISTENT WITH THE PARTIES’ LOVING RELATIONSHIP

SECTION 14. THE PARTIES WILL REFRAIN FROM UNDULY CRITICIZING THE OTHER

SECTION 15. PHYSICAL LOVE

SECTION 16. PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

SECTION 17. NO PROLONGED COLDNESS CLAUSE

SECTION 18. PLEASANT AND RESPECTFUL CLAUSE

SECTION 19. NO VIOLENCE CLAUSE

SECTION 20. AGREEMENT TO KEEP TRANSGRESSIONS RE: VIOLENCE IN THE HOUSE

SECTION 21. HOUSEHOLD DUTIES

SECTION 22. DUTIES REGARDING THE CARE AND REARING OF CHILDREN, IF ANY

SECTION 23. DEALING WITH INLAWS AND OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS

SECTION 23. PART 2

SECTION 23. PART 3

SECTION 24. DEALINGS WITH FRIENDS AND OTHER NON-FAMILY MEMBERS

SECTION 25. EX-GIRLFRIENDS, EX-BOYFRIENDS AND EX-SPOUSES

SECTION 26. DRUGS, ALCOHOL AND OTHER INTOXICANTS

SECTION 27. FINANCIAL DEALINGS BETWEEN THE PARTIES

SECTION 28. GIFTS PERMITTED

SECTION 29. FORGIVENESS

SECTION 30. DISPUTES

SECTION 31. NON-AGREED DISPUTES

SECTION 32. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

SECTION 33. CONDUCT DURING A DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS

SECTION 34. FULL AND OPEN DISCUSSION

SECTION 35. STATEMENT OF RESOLUTION

SECTION 36. MODIFICATIONS

SECTION 37. TERMINATION OF RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT

SECTION 38. NO AGREEMENTS RE: COMMUNITY PROPERTY OR SEPARATE PROPERTY, OR OTHER PROPERTY RIGHTS

SECTION 39. AGREEMENT RE: PSYCHOSIS

SECTION 40. AGREEMENT RE: CHILDREN

SECTION 41. AGREEMENT RE: MARRIAGE

SECTION 42. AGREEMENT RE: RELIGION

SECTION 43. FURTHER AGREEMENTS

SECTION 44. SIGNATURES

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR CONSEQUENCES

Appendix B EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENCES

Appendix C DISPUTE RESOLUTION CONFERENCE REQUEST

Appendix D RESPONSE TO DISPUTE RESOLUTION CONFERENCE REQUEST

Appendix E DISPUTE RESOLUTION CONFERENCE AGREEMENT

Appendix F MODIFICATION A GREEMENT

Appendix G AGREEMENT TO TERMINATE RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT

Appendix H RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT COURT

Appendix I RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT COURT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To my pretty Communist Wife,

Sabrina Qin Chen

LOVE IS TWO POLES

By Herman Franck, Esq.

Love is two poles,

One high, one low.

I’ve seen love undone,

Now in two, once was one.

High low, high low

Love is two poles.

DIRECTIONS FOR USE

This booklet sets forth a code of acceptable and unacceptable conduct for parties in a romantic relationship to abide by.

Not all provisions of this agreement may be relevant to a particular relationship. Just as in the case of relationships, this agreement is not set forth as an all or nothing—take it or leave it proposition. Instead, the readers are requested to review all provisions in the agreement and determine which parts are relevant and, within those, which parts can be the subject of an agreement. The parties may leave aside sections that remain without an agreement.

Readers should also understand that this relationship agreement is not at all intended to deal with community property and other financial issues. This relationship agreement focuses on the conduct of the parties within the relationship, and not issues such as who gets to keep what in the event of divorce or separation.

The booklet attempts to set forth a series of ideas for consequences, but leaves the parties free to decide which consequence they deem best suited to their own relationship, and to insert those consequences into the agreement. Punishments should be in a form to provide a lesson about the violation.

Just as a relationship is a living, breathing union of two people, (and let’s all agree to just keep it to two people), so is the case of this relationship agreement. Modifications to the agreement are encouraged, but must be subject to some discipline, lest the agreement initially reached be simply an agreement subject to the condition that the whole agreement can be thrown out at any time any party wished. Modifications are only allowable where both