Prenuptial Agreements

When considering if the prenuptial agreement is fair and should be upheld, the court will look at things such as whether both parties understood it properly and if they had enough time to review it before signing.  Therefore when a prenuptial agreement is created you need to ensure the following:

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

When we advise a client about a relationship that has broken down and a prenuptial agreement is in place, we ask certain questions. These include:

• How soon before the wedding was the prenuptial agreement signed?
• Was any pressure placed on the parties to sign it?
• How was it negotiated?
• Was there any negotiation at all, or was the agreement imposed on one party?
• Was there full and frank disclosure of the finances of both parties?
• Did both parties receive legal advice?

Depending on the answers to the above questions, we can then give you advice about how your existing prenup could affect your separation.

If you are considering a prenuptial agreement, or you have signed a prenuptial agreement and would like advice, book an appointment today in one of our UK offices.

If you are already married and want an agreement in place to define what will happen in the event of the marriage ending, then we advise visiting our page on postnuptial agreements.  A postnuptial agreement (or postnup) can effectively do the same things as a prenup, except postnups are signed after marriage has occured.