Prenuptial Agreements

A Prenuptial agreement is a signed contract between the partners. It can be entered into before or during the marriage. An agreement before marriage is called a pre-nuptial agreement and during the marriage - post-nuptial agreement. The agreement might change within time depending on the circumstances that may appear, such as finances or having a child together.

They are not just for those who have significant wealth or assets, they are used to protect a person's assets should a divorce occur. They are becoming more common where there is a significant age or asset disparity.

 

Technically, prenuptial agreements are not enforceable in UK courts. Despite this, they are given significant weight in assessing post-divorce settlements. For such an agreement to be considered with any weight it should include an evaluation of both the existing and potential future situation, such as managing a future windfall or pension.

 

It is essential that such an agreement is written professionally but also using plain English to avoid any confusion on either side. The agreement must be entered into voluntarily and include details of all assets, liabilities, debts etc.

 

The agreement must be written after both sides have taken independent legal advice. If the situation changes then the agreement can be varied, unless the matter is obvious fair or covers points that have become irrelevant, for instance, it may have included: -

·         Who gets the family pet (if the pet dies then this point becomes mute);

·         Who pays for school fees (if the child leaves school at 18 this becomes mute);

·         Income from the sale of shares/property/antiques etc (if they get sold then again, the point it becomes mute).

I am sure the reader can think of many more but you get the point, however, for any non-obvious alterations, such as those involving property or finances, we would suggest that legal advice is taken.

 

How we can help

For a prenuptial agreement to be ratified requires both sides to employ their chosen solicitor. This can be extremely expensive, especially if there is much correspondence between either side. We would suggest keeping costs down by using different solicitors within Lestons. They can communicate far more freely which cuts down dramatically on correspondence and delays in waiting for a response (and the associated costs). We would be delighted to be appointed to act for you in this regard, To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.