Nuptial Law Solicitors

A prenup, like life and health insurance, provides you with an invaluable resource when life doesn’t go according to plan. Bearing in mind that almost 50% of marriages result in divorce, prenups are a sensible and realistic way of starting a marriage.

Couples who enter into prenups have a shared spirit of openness and honesty and gain a sense of security from the frank discussions and transparent process.

There is no doubt that some people will regard a prenup to be rather unromantic and pessimistic and indeed it might be an awkward topic for some couples.

Although Prenups hold tremendous weight when they are prepared correctly, no one can give you a 100% guarantee that they will be watertight in years or decades ahead. However, there is no doubt that the legal climate is shifting in favour of upholding those Agreements that have been carefully drafted by (and advice has been followed from) specialist lawyers like ourselves.

Our costs start at £1,500 plus VAT and rise incrementally up to approximately £5,000 plus VAT depending on the complexity of the financial circumstances of each party.

If your total assets are less than £1,000,000, we will be able to offer you a fixed fee arrangement following an initial free consultation.

More substantial assets will require more time and generally attract larger fees accordingly.

The legal fees for a Prenup are without a doubt much less than the cost of an average wedding and a fraction of what you could stand to lose if you don’t protect your assets or you need a lawyer to unravel your divorce.

Since the case of Radmacher – v – Granatino in 2010, Solicitors have been given a firm set of rules to follow when drafting a prenup. Following this case, it is much more likely that a court will uphold a prenuptial agreement where there is certainty as follows:

• Each of the couples has made complete disclosure to the other as to what they own and what their assets are and each party fully understands the financial resources, income and liabilities involved.
• Neither of them has been placed under undue pressure (duress) to enter into the prenup. This means that the agreement has to be prepared in good time and ideally signed at least 28 days before the marriage or civil partnership and that each person has had time to fully consider it. As you can imagine it will not go down well with a court if a prenup was presented to a partner on the eve of the wedding and it is certainly not an option to ask your partner to “suggest there will be no wedding without a prenup being signed” …just before the guests are all arriving!
• Each of the couples has separate and independent legal advice.
• If at the point the relationship breaks down and the prenup is being relied upon, the consequences of holding the couple to the agreement must not put either one of them or a child, in a position of financial hardship.  In simple terms, the prenup must be considered fair and reasonable.

In the landmark case of McLeod – v – McLeod (2008), the court ruled that a post-nuptial agreement, signed after the marriage has taken place, could be upheld in the same way as a prenuptial agreement, provided it was prepared so that it met the same criteria as covered above.

Although assets acquired after a marriage (aka marital assets) can be covered in a prenuptial agreement, a post-nuptial agreement can include specific marital property that has been acquired since the parties got married.

Post-nuptial agreements are also useful when parties become aware of imminent inheritance or are considering entering into a business with a third party.

If you would like to discuss this with us, please call 0161 941 5757. Alternatively, fill on the contact form on this page.

The main reason to contest a prenuptial agreement is that it can no longer be considered fair or reasonable by one of the parties.

A prenup can be amended during the marriage to cater for changes in circumstances as long as the agreement is signed by both parties and witnessed in the same way as the initial prenuptial agreement.

To contest a prenup you would have to make a court application (at the time of your divorce) and present to the court your reasons for why you believe the prenup should not be upheld.

There would have to be a good reason for a court to completely disregard a prenup and the English courts can veto all or parts, especially if they fail to meet the needs of the parties or children.

Prenuptial law is clear on this matter – that to make a prenuptial agreement binding, both parties must have independent legal advice on the document. Otherwise, it is extremely unlikely that a court would give weight to it.

If your prenup was entered into freely and meets all qualifying criteria, then it will be upheld in court following your death and will not be overridden by your Will.

You can of course try and create your Prenup but current case law is such that it is extremely unlikely to hold much weight by a court.

The Law Commission in 2014 included a draft Nuptial Agreements Bill and although the debate is yet to be finalised, it has been suggested that Prenups be made legally binding where each party has received independent legal advice.

When a couple has already married, but still wants some protection, they can have a postnuptial agreement instead. This has the same legal treatment as a prenuptial agreement and the only difference is the timing of it.

We always give a post-nuptial agreement special attention to make sure it complies with all of the stipulations recommended in up-to-date case law to ensure it is as watertight as possible.

Postnups are particularly relied upon when unforeseen circumstances arise such as a lottery win, unexpected inheritance or unforeseen disability.

Call 0161 941 5757 to discuss postnuptial agreements.

An infidelity clause is often included in a prenuptial agreement in the USA and it can of course be included in your bespoke prenuptial agreement.

These clauses usually specify that should either partner engage in adultery, they forfeit their claim to certain assets or are otherwise penalised in the case of a divorce and the eventual separation of belongings.

Indeed, it makes it clear that both spouses take marital faithfulness seriously.  However, the new divorce laws since April 2022 are based on a no-fault principle and infidelity clauses in prenups have yet to be tried and tested in a UK court.

In conclusion, an infidelity clause forces parties to discuss the issue but so far there are no examples of them being enforceable.

As stated above, prenups are not legally binding (by statute law) but case law since 2010 is such that they hold significant weight if the Radmacher criteria stated above are followed.

Ante-nuptial agreements and prenuptial agreements mean the same thing and there is no difference between them.

There has been a notable increase in demand for prenuptial agreements since the landmark case of Radmacher was reported 12 years ago.

There is no doubt that it is so much easier for couples to negotiate a financial agreement at the beginning of their marriage as opposed to when their relationship has broken down.

A prenup, like life and health insurance, provides you with an invaluable resource when life doesn’t go according to plan. Bearing in mind that almost 50% of marriages result in divorce, prenups are a sensible and realistic way of starting a marriage.  Couples who enter into them have a shared spirit of openness and honesty and gain a sense of security from the frank discussions and transparent process.

There is no doubt that some people will regard a prenup to be rather unromantic and pessimistic and indeed it might be an awkward topic for some couples.  Although Pre-Nups hold tremendous weight when they are prepared correctly, no one can give you a 100% guarantee that they will be watertight in years or decades ahead. However, there is no doubt that the legal climate is shifting in favour of upholding those Agreements that have been carefully drafted by ( and advice has been followed from )  specialist lawyers like ourselves.