Pre-nups for People yet to Make their First Million

An excellent article by Sarah Balfour in the solicitors Journal (www.solicitorsjournal.com) highlights the increase in the number of pre-nuptial agreements being signed, and in particular by people who have yet to make their first million.

Many people entering into these agreement are on their second or third marriage but gradually the perception of a pre-nup being unromantic and affecting the happy day is disappearing.

People perceive them now as a way to avoid an expensive legal battle if the marriage breaks down, and of people marrying now it is said that about half will end up in divorce.

The attitude seems to be, “Let’s sign the thing and put it in a drawer and hope we never have to get it out”.

A pre-nup cannot be too one sided.  If one spouse had nothing it would rarely be upheld except in a very short marriage. Post-nup agreements are also on the increase, and they often update prenuptial agreements, for example after the birth of children.

It should be seen as a positive because if there is a breakdown, the couple are saying to each other, with a positive knock on effect for any  children, that they plan to separate without bitterness or arguments, in accordance with pre-arranged division of assets.

Expert legal advice is essential and to make a pre-nup binding, and the templates on the Internet are not usually a good idea.  Whilst cheap they may not be upheld.

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