Prenups and You

Date Added: 16 December 2010

Once again, the popular press has tended to sensationalise the outcome of a divorce case. This is hardly surprising as the latest, big prenuptial agreement case involved a glamourous, uber wealthy wife and a broodingly handsome husband, the stuff of American mini series.

Add to this, the gloss of the case having been decided by no fewer than nine Law Lords (bewigged and scarlet gowned in the public imagination) and the mix is irresistible. How could the press avoid headlines along the lines of 'Prenups are legal'.

And there you are, on the point of getting married (or fashionably engaged on a Kenyan game ranch) and although you are very much in love, you are worried about the house you bought with your hard earned money, when times were better and before you met your intended. In light of the news on the recent case, surely a prenup' will protect your house (or other assets in your sole name), especially as your partner (soon to be spouse) agrees. Or is it.

Sadly not.

Closer reading of the judgement reveals that although the recent case of Radmacher v Granantino, decided by the Supreme Court on 17 October of this year, adds weight to prenuptial agreements, they are no more 'legal' than they were before the case began. Yes, in the right circumstances (as in the recent case) a prenup will now carry more weight than it did for a judge when deciding how to split assets on divorce, but it is not cast iron guarantees that the division will be as the agreement. We must wait for the government to pass a law making prenups 'legal', to ensure this outcome and the earliest this is expected to happen is 2014.

That said, while prenuptial agreements are still not binding, in the hopefully unlikely event of your getting divorced, a prenuptial agreement is still the best way available to you, of getting the court to consider leaving specific assets out of the settlement equation. But you have to be sure that the prenup' is correctly drafted and signed off, with independent legal advice to each of you, at least 21 days before the wedding.

If you would like more advice on prenuptial agreements or on how to make the divorce or separation process as simple and cost effective as possible, please call Louise Finlayson or Andrea Hamlin on 01233 625711 or alternatively email lkf@hallettandco.co.uk and arh@hallettandco.co.uk

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