PRENUPTIAL & POSTNUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

It may be that you are entering into a second marriage and would like to protect assets secured from a first marriage, or perhaps you are keen to preserve wealth that you plan to pass on to your children from an earlier marriage.

Although prenuptial agreements are not strictly binding in England and Wales if you divorce, the agreement is likely to be upheld as long as the correct steps were taken at the time the agreement was drafted including:
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• Both parties have taken separate independent legal advice.
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• Financial disclosure was exchanged and the agreement was signed at least 21 days before the wedding (this time frame is best practice).

Any prenuptial agreement must be fair to avoid it being disregarded by the court.

Alternatively, you might wish to consider a postnuptial agreement after getting married. The process is very similar to creating a prenuptial agreement; both husband and wife must have their own solicitors who work to reach an agreement around what will happen to the family’s assets in the event of a divorce. A defined agreement can be beneficial to establish the financial expectations of the parties and to avoid the uncertainty of an acrimonious divorce.