When Couples Enter Into Agreements: Pre-Nup Or Post-Nup?

Most people will be familiar with pre-nuptial settlements, or 'pre-nups', from news stories about celebrity divorce cases. However, few will be familiar with the term 'post-nuptial settlements'.

Couples enter into pre-nups before they get married. The agreement determines how their assets will be shared if they end up divorcing. Pre-nups are increasingly used, not just in first marriages, but second and third too. They were regarded both as against the public policy of supporting marriage and as ousting the Court's jurisdiction, and have not therefore been enforced by the English Courts.

However, this year, the Supreme Court upheld a pre-nup (in Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino). The Court held that a pre-nup is one of the factors to be taken into account in deciding what is fair. In view of the facts of this particular case it was upheld.