Pre-marital Agreements

Pre-marital agreements are becoming increasingly popular in this country as more and more couples become alarmed by the potential cost, both financial and emotional, of getting divorced. Couples set out in a document, before they get married, what will happen in the event that the relationship breaks down or enter into a civil partnership.

Such agreements are not recognized in this country by Statute which leads many practitioners to question their worth. However, a number of influential judges have been prepared to look carefully at the terms of pre-marital agreements when making their decisions about the division of assets on divorce. The recent decisions of Crossley, Radmacher and MacLeod indicate circumstances where by prenuptial agreement will be upheld. These highlight the importance of obtaining legal advice, having a document that accurately reflects the parties wises whilst at the same time producing an overall fair division.

Perhaps surprisingly, many couples find the process of negotiating the terms of an agreement to be a positive one, even if they were initially wary of raising the subject with their partner. Negotiating in the context of a forthcoming marriage civil partnership is often easier than negotiating during the process of separation and relationship break down. Also the couples’ view of what is “fair” at that time can be very influential in discussions regarding a financial settlement if the marriage does break down.

Pre-marital agreements are perhaps most popular with couples where there is a large disparity of wealth (often due to family money or inheritance prospects), where the couple wish to protect the interests of third parties (such as children from a first marriage) when people marry having already forged their own careers and wish to protect their assets and their independence or when the parties have a condone with a different county that upholds prenuptial agreements.

We can provide straightforward advice that will help you to identify whether an agreement is appropriate for you and, if so, the terms that should be included in that agreement.