Pre-Marital Agreements: The Romance of Planning for the Worst and Hoping for the Best
One of the key dates for many people in February falls halfway through the month: Valentine’s Day.
Indeed, never is there a more obvious time to turn one’s attention to the excitement of marrying the person you love.
It is also an opportunity to focus on the practical planning of sharing your life with someone and how things might look if, sadly, there was trouble in paradise, having already tied the knot.
The Pre-Marital (Nuptial) Agreement comes to the rescue here!
Pre-Marital Agreements Are For Everyone
No longer are these Agreements purely the domain of celebrities (Britney Spears and Sam Asghari have an “ironclad” Agreement, apparently), as these gems provide a forum for open discussion for everyone looking at marrying as to who will retain what should the marriage not work out.
Second marriages benefit from such planning and prevention, as we live in complex times of blended families and, unfortunately, an increase in contested Probate claims.
Adult children from first marriages worry, understandably, about the needs of their parents and their financial security should a second marriage not work out.
Pre-Marital and post-acquired assets can be ring-fenced and made allowance for within these Agreements.
Pre-Marital Agreements Offer Flexibility, Creativity & Control
The real beauty of such an Agreement is that it gives the couple flexibility, creativity and control over how their assets are distributed in the future.
The earlier the conversations are entered into, the better.
From our perspective, as Resolution-trained Family Lawyers, we wish to offer you the earliest advice to ensure that the proposed Agreement is as watertight as possible.
The Agreement will operate as a blueprint and make life easier for all concerned.
Radmacher v. Granatino
The legal landmark case of Radmacher v. Granatino (Supreme Court, 20th Oct 2010) was a turning point for Pre-Marital Agreements.
Previously, these Agreements were held to be against public policy.
But since this case, if the parties have freely entered into the Agreement, with a clear understanding of the terms and have had the opportunity to take independent legal advice, then the Agreement will be made binding on the parties.
In this case, the Pre-Marital Agreement was drafted to protect the wife’s family assets.
The husband did not seek independent legal advice but did enter into the Agreement of his own free will.
The husband later argued that the terms should not bind him due to his financial situation (that is, being relatively poorer than his wife).
However, it was held that as he entered into the Agreement of his own volition and chose not to seek independent legal advice, he should be bound by the Agreement.
These discussions are also relevant to Cohabitation Agreements in that communication is the key to being on the same page regarding your expectations.
Are you happily (but blindly?) smitten or also concerned about the practicalities of your joint future?
If the latter, do you share the same concerns and are willing to discuss them openly?
For additional security, our Private Client Team have excellent Wills and LPA expertise.
It is always sensible to review these areas whilst looking at any family Agreements to ensure that you and your family have the highest level of protection and certainty for the future.
It can be about avoiding “sideways inheritances”, if that is not the joint intention, and fool-proofing your future as much as possible. As such, a collaborative approach of transparency is always preferable and in the best interests of all concerned.
Ultimately, the Agreement represents peace of mind.
Once done, it can be filed (putting it in a drawer works also!) and forgotten about, hopefully for posterity.
And if there are no problems, but you both wish any post-marriage changes to be noted?
Simple. The Pre-Marital Agreement can evolve and become a Post-Marital Agreement with the assistance of further legal input.
Find Out More About Pre-Marital Agreements
If you would like us to help you with some of the practical planning of your future marriage so that you can focus on simply enjoying your life together, please do contact us, the Bennett Griffin Family Team:
Jaqueline Mensah, Family and Collaborative Lawyer on JNM@bennett-griffin.co.uk
Sarah Pennicott, Family Lawyer on SLP@bennett-griffin.co.uk