Do I need a prenuptial agreement?

Our Norwich Family law team has experience in dealing with the issues surrounding the breakdown of relationships – whether marriage, civil partnerships or cohabitation. If you are considering getting married or entering into a civil partnership then a prenuptial agreement or pre-registration agreement (nuptial agreement) can help you safeguard your financial affairs should the relationship come to an end in the future.

Nuptial Agreements are not currently binding on the Court. However, the Supreme Court has stated that they should be given appropriate weight if the nuptial agreement:

1. Is freely entered into by both parties;
2. The parties both have a full appreciation of its implications; and
3. Unless there are any circumstances prevailing that would make it unfair to hold the parties to the terms of the agreement.

It might be worth considering if:

• You have a business or business assets that you want to protect
• You are entering a second (or subsequent) marriage
• You have children from a previous marriage and want to protect their inheritances
• You are bringing other assets into the marriage or civil partnership – property, pensions, shares, monetary wealth, or you are due to inherit such assets in the future
• You already have trust assets or other estate planning agreements that need to be protected
• A nuptial agreement can even contain arrangements for pets!

Both parties will need to take independent legal advice as early as possible in advance of the marriage or civil partnership taking place from a different specialist Family Law Solicitor. They should also disclose their financial affairs to one another and understand the implications of agreeing to the proposed arrangement.

Visit our Family Law pages for more information on this as well as our expertise in Divorce Law.