Ever wonder what you need to talk about before you get married? As a marriage counselor offering premarital counseling for many years, I have selected these as the most important topics along with questions for you to explore before you walk down the aisle. Trouble discussing any of these issues might suggest to you that sitting down with a premarital counselor could be helpful. Don’t hesitate to start off on the right foot as you build your relationship to last a lifetime.

If I can be of help, please don’t hesitate to reach out, especially if you’re in the NYC, Midtown Manhattan or Westchester areas of New York. You can contact me directly at 914-548-8645. I’m happy to offer you a free consultation to explore what we can do together.

Don’t hesitate to use as a resource my new book: I DO, A MARRIAGE COUNSELING WORKBOOK FOR PREMARITAL COUPLES. Go to: https://dr-jim.com/i-do-a-marriage-counseling-workbook-for-premarital-couples.html

1. Meaning of Your Marriage Commitment

A. Describe what commitment means to you as you make plans to walk down the aisle?

B. Of all of the persons in your life that you have met and could have married, why are you choosing your partner?

C. What attracted you to your partner initially and what do you believe your partner will help you become?

2. Your Life Long Goals

A. What do you hope to achieve in the near future and the distant future regarding your career?

B. How do you plan to care for your community alone or separately?

C. Do you hope to leave a legacy after you die?

3. Your Mutual Expectations

A. What do you expect from a marital partner regarding emotional support during exciting times, sad times, periods of illness and job loss?

B. Will you set aside one night just to be together alone to catch up with each other and have fun?

C. What size house is important and in what kind of neighborhood do you hope to live in both now and in the future?

D. Are you both clear how much alone time the other needs?

E. How long does your partner need to spend with friends separately and together?

F. Do you agree with how much time is appropriate to give to work?

G. Do you both expect to support the family financially and will that be different when kids arrive?

H. Are you both comfortable with the salary differential between you?

I. How will you deal with times when one or both of you has reached a midlife career point, and you need to change some aspects of your life?

4. Your Living Arrangements

A. How do you plan to live together?

B. Where will you live after the arrival of children?

C. How do you determine if a new career path or job is reason enough to move?

D. Do you hope to live in the same house or area for a long time?

E. Will you need to be close to your parents either as you get together now or as they get older?

5. Will you have children and if so how many?

A. When do you plan to start a family?

B. How far apart would you want your kids to be in age?

C. Would abortion ever be acceptable before or after that?

D. What kinds of philosophies did your parents have about child raising and do you agree or disagree?

E. How do each of you intend to shape your children’s values

F. What kinds of punishment are appropriate or not appropriate?

G. What kinds of expectations do you each have about money spent on toys, clothes, etc.

6. Money

A. Will you have separate or joint checking accounts or both?

B. If you do have different accounts, who will be responsible for which expenses?

C. Who will pay the bills?

D. Do you agree to have full financial disclosure about each of your personal financial situation at all times?

E. How will strong disagreements about spending money be resolved?

F. Is there any debt that either partner has incurred before the marriage (ex. college or graduate school loans or credit card debt).

G. What amount of available money does each of you need to have to feel comfortable?

H. Will there be a savings plan for the first house?

I. Do you plan to keep trading houses as you can afford it?

J. How much credit card debt or home equity loan debt is acceptable?

K. Agreement about taking care of the financial needs of parents if likely?

L. Do you plan to send your kids to private or parochial school?

M. What will be the plans for children’s college education?

N. When do you hope to begin saving for retirement?

O. Will you use a financial planner?

P. Who will complete the taxes?

7. Parents and In-laws

A. How much time does each of you need to spend with your parents and how much do you expect your partner to join you?

B. How do you plan to spend the holidays?

C. What will be the holiday expectations of each of your parents and how will you deal with those expectations?

D. What kind of support do you expect from your partner when the parents are putting pressure on you?

E. Is it OK for either of you to talk with parents about the problems of the relationship?

F. What kind of relationship do you expect your kids to have with your parents?

G. Do you anticipate that you will ever want a parent to live with the two of you when you grow old?

8. Gender Role Expectations

A. What did your parents model for you concerning who did what in the family?

B. Did you feel that was fair and do you expect something different?

C. Does each of you have some preferences that might be unrelated to gender?

D. How will you deal with household or yard maintenance? How will you divvy up these responsibilities or hire someone?

E. Do both of you expect to work if you have children?

F. When the children get sick, how do you decide who stays home with them?

9. Do you agree on issues around erotic moments together?

A. How often do you want to enjoy an intimate evening with each other?

B. How do you intend to resolve differences in sexual preferences?

C. Can you work out an agreement about how to deal with differences in the frequency of sexual desire?

D. Are there certain things that are clearly off limits?

E. Do you agree to talk about your sexual concerns at a time when you both are feeling creative and relaxed and not during sex?

10. How will you resolve heated conflicts?

A. What can you learn about how your partner likes to deal with conflict based on their experience in their family of origin.

B. What feels comfortable to each of you, as your partner gets upset?

C. Can either of you ask for a timeout to calm down and be creative in your problem-solving?

D. What rituals will you develop to reach out to each other after a big fight?

11. Spiritual Life

A. What does spirituality mean to each of you?

B. What kind of participation do you expect in each other in some form of spiritual community?

C. How will you share what means something to you with them?

D. Will your children be expected to attend any regular services or religious education?

E. Will the children go through certain rituals such as baptism, christening, first communion, confirmation, bar or bat mitzvah?

12. Agreement about extramarital relationships/affairs

A. Do you want to establish from the beginning that affairs are not an option?

B. Do you agree that affairs of the heart are equal to sexual infidelity?

C. Will you talk to your partner about someone that you feel drawn to as a colleague or erotically since this can build the bond between you and your partner rather than the outside person?

D. Will you commit to never talking to a person of the opposite sex (except a therapist or clergy) about your relationship with your partner since this builds a bond outside of your relationship?

In talking with your fiance about any of these, you may find some questions cause you to feel upset or concerned. Dr. Walkup offers premarital counseling and retreats in NYC at his Midtown office in Manhattan and Westchester office in White Plains (click)for couples who are committed to building their marriage and gaining the skills for communicating and avoiding the fighting that damages the relationship.

Call Dr. Jim at 914-548-8645 to talk about whether premarital counseling would benefit you at this time. His many decades of marriage counseling experience can save you much time and heartache.

Are you interested in a crash course of your premarital counseling? Click for information.

Couples fly in from all parts of the United States to meet with Dr. Jim for a day or a half day to explore the strengths and challenges of their relationship before walking down the aisle.

Using the Gottman Relationship Checkup, he will identify the areas where you can feel proud. He can suggest the tools and skills you will need to address the negative issues the Gottman Relationship Check-up highlights. Couples sometimes arrange for subsequent periodic “tune-ups.” Call him at 914 548 8645

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