Pre-nups head for shake-up as new laws loom
COUPLES could be given the chance to draw up their own legally binding pre-nups under new plans proposed by the government today.
In a report this morning the Law Commission recommends the introduction of new legally binding contracts – known as qualifying nuptial agreements – that could not be disregarded by the courts, as some pre-nups currently are.
The agreements could cost anywhere from £1,000 to £15,000 depending on your financial arrangements, and would need to be drawn up by a lawyer.
“Pre- and post-nuptial agreements are becoming more commonplace but the courts will not always follow them and lawyers are therefore not able to give clear advice about their effect,” said professor Elizabeth Cooke, Law Commissioner for property, family and trust law. “We have built in safeguards to ensure that they cannot be used to impose hardship on either party, nor to escape responsibility for children or to burden the state.”
The Law Commission was asked to prepare the report by ministers, who feel the definition of “needs” that must be met is ambiguous. The commission took the unusual step of drafting a bill for MPs to bring before parliament in order to rush through the changes.
Alison Hawes, a specialist family and divorce lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said it is “quite likely” that the recommendations will become law and that there would be significant demand for such an agreement.
She added that her practice gets around four enquiries a week for pre-nup agreements, often from young couples where one party has been given substantial wealth by their family.
Other recommendations in the report include making it clearer to couples what types of financial need must be met by each party, as well as drawing up a guide to how much money would be required to meet those needs, according to personal circumstances.