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Pre-nuptial Agreements – are they legal?

In popular culture pre-nuptial agreements or pre-nups exist and are regarded as legally binding and crucial to the determination of a divorce case.  The media does little to dispel such a perception and it is common belief that the rich and famous enter into pre-nups as a matter of course.

In reality pre-nuptial agreements are not automatically binding in law in England and Wales but following a recent Supreme Court ruling in the right case such agreements can have decisive or compelling weight.  This means that in a divorce case a Court will consider the existence of a pre-nuptial agreement as a relevant factor but the Court can exercise its discretion to over-ride the agreement particularly if it is unfair to any children of the marriage. Other factors such as the creation of assets prior to the marriage, changes in career or the health of a party are also likely to over-ride such an agreement.

In a short marriage with no children where most of the assets have been created before the marriage then the pre-nuptial agreement may well be the decisive factor in determining the outcome of a divorce settlement.

To ensure that a pre-nuptial agreement is properly drawn up and completed it is essential that both parties to a marriage take the right legal advice and ensure the appropriate formalities are followed.

If you are interested in having a pre-nuptial agreement drawn up then please contact our expert family team.