Prenuptial Agreement

A Prenuptial agreement is a formal contract that partners create before getting legally married, which sets out how to divide assets and finances in the event of the breakdown of their marriage.

If you need legal advice or assistance with the preparation of your prenuptial agreement, call our prenuptial agreement solicitors in London at 0203 417 3700.

1. What is a Prenuptial agreement?
2. Is a Prenuptial agreement legally binding?
3. What are the most common reasons for getting a Prenuptial agreement?
4. How much does a prenuptial agreement cost?
5. How Wembley Solicitors can help with the Prenuptial agreement?
6. Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is a Prenuptial agreement?

A Prenuptial agreement (often known as a Prenup agreement) is a formal pre-marital written agreement between two partners. The prenuptial agreement sets out ownership of all the belongings including money, assets and property and explains how these will be divided in the event of the breakdown of their marriage.

Is a Prenuptial agreement legally binding?

Prenuptial agreements are not legally binding in the UK but are persuasive for the judge to exercise discretion in deciding the financial settlement by giving weight to the Prenuptial agreement.

Prenup, Postnup, and Pre-civil registration agreements cannot exclude the authority of the Court when dealing with financial issues when a marriage or civil partnership irretrievably breaks down.

When divorce arises, the court has discretionary powers to distribute assets as the Judge sees is in the best interest of the parties/children/individual circumstances. The prenuptial agreement which has been entered into fairly and after taking appropriate legal advice may have persuasive authority for the judge to exercise discretion and give weight to the same in the distribution of assets.

What are the most common reasons for getting a Prenuptial agreement?

If you are not interested in sharing your assets equally with your partner on the breakdown of marriage then it would be in your best interests to enter into a Prenup or Postnup agreement even if the agreement is not upheld by the Court.

Money can be an extremely emotive topic in a relationship, especially if you have different attitudes towards spending and saving. A prenuptial agreement provides a clear agreement that can lead to peace of mind for both parties.

The most common reasons for entering into a prenuptial agreement may include the following:

• Assets: There are assets and/or property that would be hard to split 50/50;
• Children: You, and/or your partner, have children from a previous relationship and want to ensure certain assets are reserved for them and protect their inheritance rights;  
• Inherited money or assets: You want to protect inherited money or assets;
• Savings or expected future inheritance: You want to safeguard substantial savings or expected future inheritance;
• Fairness: You want financial issues to be resolved fairly in the event of a marriage breakdown, especially if you have suffered unfairness in divorce courts previously;
• Business: Either party own a business which they would like to retain control of in the event of the marriage breaking down;
• Debt: If your partner has outstanding debt, a prenuptial agreement with a ‘debt clause’ can protect you from being liable for that debt.

How much does a prenuptial agreement cost?

For drafting a prenuptial agreement, our solicitors charge a fixed fee of £500 (excluding VAT). However, legal costs can vary depending on the complexity of the matter.

How Wembley Solicitors can help with the Prenuptial agreement?

A team of family law solicitors at Wembley Solicitors has extensive experience in advising and assisting clients with prenuptial agreements. We will prepare a prenuptial agreement:

• tailored to you and your partner's personal circumstances;
• containing an inventory of each partner's assets;
• giving details of how the assets will be distributed in the event of the breakdown of the marriage;
• giving details of any post-divorce financial arrangements for children, particularly where one or both partners have children from previous relationships (if required);
• giving independent legal advice.

We have put together a checklist to help your prenuptial agreement have the best chance of being upheld in divorce court:

• To comply with UK law, the Prenup must be drawn up by a qualified solicitor;
• Both parties must have separate solicitors to avoid any claim of conflict of interest;
• Both parties must fully understand the agreement and 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;
• All assets and property must be fully disclosed by both parties.

If you need legal advice or assistance in relation to preparing a prenuptial agreement, please make a free enquiry by calling us on 0203 417 3700 or filling out our online enquiry form.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)