Q. I read last week that the Court of Appeal have ruled that pre-nuptial agreements are now binding in this country. Is that correct?
A. A pre-nuptial agreement is a contract signed by a couple prior to getting married which sets out who is entitled to what upon them divorcing. Whilst the courts here haven't completely ignored then in the past, they haven't strictly enforced them either, instead preferring to regard what is said in a pre-nup as being merely one of a number of relevant factors when deciding who should get the flat in London or Sunderland Road or the Porsche or the 2CV.
The traditional view has been that in asking your intended other half to sign away his or her rights on divorce before you have even danced down the aisle strikes at the very heart of the trust required to commit yourself to another for life.
What happened last week was that the Court of Appeal followed very closely the terms of a pre nuptial agreement signed by a French merchant banker and one of the richest women in Germany. This was the first time that a senior court in this country had given a great deal of weight to a pre-nuptial agreement. This is not to say that all courts will do so in every case in the future (as the headlines last week did tend to suggest) but the issue will now remain unclear until Parliament changes the law to clarify the position.
After the case, the German Heiress' lawyer commented, "From today grown-ups can agree in the best of times what will happen in the worst of times." Call me old fashioned if you wish, but I tend towards the more traditional romantic view. What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine etc; except for the 2CV of course - you can keep that.
Should you have a queries regarding a legal matter please contact Keith Swan of Patterson, Glenton & Stracey Solicitors by email at ks@pgslaw.co.uk or by telephone on 0808 231 7043. Patterson, Glenton & Stracey have provided legal advice to the people of South Tyneside for over 125 years. For details of their full range of services and to view previous Gazette articles please log on to www.pgslaw.co.uk.
