Prenuptial Agreements

Prenuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement (sometimes known as a prenup) is a formal written pre-marital agreement between two partners. The prenuptial agreement specifies who owns all of their stuff, including money, assets, and property, and how they will be distributed if their marriage fails.

Do you wish to engage in a prenuptial agreement with your fiance(e) and need legal advice? For fast, courteous, dependable, and fixed-fee legal assistance for your prenuptial agreement, contact our skilled team of family law lawyers in London.

Please fill out our enquiry form to ask our specialist divorce & family law attorneys for free online advice on prenuptial agreements. One of our divorce & family law solicitors will respond as soon as possible.

Are Prenuptial Agreements Legally Binding In The UK?

Prenuptial agreements are not legally binding in the United Kingdom. Still, they are deemed persuasive for the court to use discretion in deciding the financial settlement by assigning weight to the prenuptial agreement.

When dealing with financial concerns when a marriage or civil partnership irretrievably fails, prenups, postnups, and pre-civil registration agreements cannot preclude the Court’s power. When a divorce occurs, the court can allocate assets in the best interests of the parties/children/individual circumstances. The prenuptial agreement that has been entered into honestly and after getting suitable legal counsel may have persuasive authority for the court to exercise discretion and give weight to the same in asset distribution.

In the famous case of Radmacher v. Granatino, the UK Supreme Court recognised prenuptial agreements for the first time in 2010. Following the landmark decision of Radmacher v. Granatino, prenuptial agreements are now given significant weight in the UK Family Court unless they are shown to be unfair.

Radmacher v. Granatino concerned a German heiress named Katrin Radmacher and a French investment banker named Nicolas Granatino, who married in the United Kingdom in 1998. To preserve Ms Radmacher’s £106 million wealth in the event of the marriage failing, the pair signed a prenuptial agreement stating that neither party would benefit financially from the other if the marriage failed.

The Judges ruled in Ms Radmacher’s favour, stating that the arrangement was enforceable because both parties had legal counsel, and it was entered into with full disclosure of each other’s finances at the time.

It was the first time in UK divorce law that prenuptial agreements were recognised as binding.

The caveat is that, while UK courts will recognise prenuptial agreements, they have the final option to disregard any arrangement signed if it is seen to be unjust to the children of the marriage.

What Are the Most Common Reasons for Getting Prenuptial Agreement?

If you do not want to share your assets equally with your spouse in the case of divorce, it is in your best interests to engage in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, even if the Court does not support the arrangement.

Money can be an incredibly dynamic topic in a relationship, especially if you have different attitudes towards spending and saving. A prenuptial agreement establishes an explicit agreement that can give both parties peace of mind.

The following are some of the most typical reasons for engaging in a prenuptial agreement:

  • Assets: There are assets or property that would be hard to split 50/50;
  • Children: You or your partner have children from a previous relationship and want to ensure certain assets are reserved for them and protect their inheritance rights;
  • Inherited money or assets: You want to protect inherited money or assets;
  • Savings or expected future inheritance: You want to safeguard substantial savings or expected future inheritance;
  • Fairness: You want financial issues to be resolved relatively in the event of a marriage breakdown, especially if you’ve suffered unfairness in divorce courts previously;
  • Business: Either party own a business which they’d like to retain control of in the event of the marriage breaking down;
  • Debt: If your partner has outstanding debt, a prenuptial agreement with a ‘debt clause’ can protect you from being liable for that debt.

How can Abbott and Harris Solicitors help With Prenuptial Agreement?

Our family law experts will draught a prenuptial agreement for you:

  • personalised to your and your partner’s specific needs;
  • including a list of each partner’s assets
  • providing information on how assets will be allocated in the case of a divorce;
  • (if applicable) describing any post-divorce financial arrangements for children, especially if one or both spouses have children from prior marriages;
  • providing independent legal counsel

We’ve put up a checklist to assist your prenuptial agreement to have the best chance of being maintained in divorce court:

  • To comply with UK law, the prenup must be drawn up by a qualified solicitor;
  • Both parties must have separate solicitors to avoid any claim of conflict of interest;
  • Both parties must fully understand the agreement and voluntarily agree to it;
  • Both solicitors must confirm it was entered into freely and knowingly;
  • The prenuptial contract should be signed at least 21 days before the marriage;
  • Both parties must fully disclose all assets and property.

Book your Appointment with Abbott and Harris Solicitors.

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If you prefer to contact us by phone then call us on 0203 953 0761 | 0203 953 0762 or email us at info@ahlaws.co.uk.

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