SUPREME COURT RULING WILL SEE UK INCREASE IN PRENUPS

20/10/2010

Nottingham family lawyer Paul Cobb of Rothera Dowson Solicitors, believes that there will be an increase in the number of couples seeking to enter into prenuptial agreements.

This is following the Supreme Court ruling in favour of German Heiress Katrin Radmacher, which has given new status to prenuptial agreements. The case has led the Supreme Court to rule that decisive weight should now be given to prenuptial agreements here.

Miss Radmacher a German paper heiress, had entered into a prenuptial agreement with her husband Nicolas Granatino, in which both agreed in the event of separation that neither would make any financial claims on the other. On divorce Mr Granatino applied for ancillary relief receiving an initial settlement of £5 million, which was reduced on appeal to £1 million. Following the reduction, Mr Granatino took his case to the Supreme Court, but his ex-wife was successful.

According to Paul, this case was seen by many lawyers as the ultimate test of whether the agreements are applicable in English law.

He says: “The case confirms that the court will now give decisive weight to such agreements in the future, helping people to plan insofar as is possible for what should happen in the event of a separation. It may also, as Miss Radmacher has said, be a way of proving that couples are marrying only for love and not for money.

“I hope that the conflict and acrimony that often accompanies the process of separation and resolving financial issues, can be replaced by cooperation between the parties and a greater use of the collaborative law process to negotiate prenuptial agreements.”

For more information or advice on prenuptial agreements, please contact Paul Cobb or Lorna Sear on 0800 124 4012.