A Prenuptial Agreement is entered into before a marriage or civil partnership takes place, setting out how assets, property and finances should be dealt with if the relationship later breaks down. Done properly, it can remove a lot of the uncertainty and cost that comes with arguing about money during a divorce.
Prenuptial agreements are often considered where one person enters the marriage with significantly greater assets than the other, where wealth has been accumulated before the relationship began, or where family wealth, inherited assets or business interests need protecting. They’re also common in second marriages, particularly where one or both parties want to preserve assets for children from a previous relationship. You don’t need significant wealth for one to be worthwhile. Some couples simply want the clarity and peace of mind, regardless of what they own. Get the drafting wrong, skip disclosure, or rush someone into signing, and there is a real risk that the agreement will not be upheld by the court.
Led by Sobiah Hussain, our team of family solicitors advises clients across England and Wales on all aspects of pre-nuptial agreements, whether you’re starting from scratch, reviewing a draft prepared by another solicitor, or seeking advice ahead of a forthcoming marriage or civil partnership.
How Our Prenuptial Agreement Solicitors Can Help
A prenuptial agreement should reflect your individual circumstances rather than simply follow a standard template. Our prenuptial agreement solicitors can help you consider what you want the agreement to achieve and ensure that the proposed terms properly reflect your financial position before you marry or enter into a civil partnership.
We can advise on the assets and financial arrangements that should be considered, including property, savings and investments, pensions, inherited wealth and business interests. Where finances are more complex, this may include trusts, international assets, family businesses or significant investment portfolios.
Our family law solicitors can also assist with the financial disclosure process, draft the proposed agreement and deal with negotiations with your future spouse or civil partner’s solicitor. If you have been presented with an agreement prepared on behalf of your partner, we can provide independent legal advice on its terms and explain how it may affect you in the event of a divorce.
It is sensible to seek advice well before the wedding or civil partnership so there is sufficient time for both parties to consider the terms, exchange financial information and receive independent legal advice before signing. If your wedding is approaching, our specialist solicitors can advise on the options available and whether a postnuptial agreement may also need to be considered.
What a Prenuptial Agreement Can Cover
A prenuptial agreement can distinguish between assets that each person brings into the marriage and those that may be acquired during the marriage or civil partnership. For example, you may want to record that a property, inheritance or business interest owned before the marriage should be treated differently from assets you build up together.
The agreement can also set out how you intend jointly owned property, savings, pensions and other financial resources to be dealt with in the event of a divorce. The terms should reflect your individual circumstances and financial position rather than simply seeking to exclude particular assets from a future financial settlement.
A pre nuptial agreement can address a wide range of financial issues, including:
- Inherited assets and future inheritances
- Property and the family home
- Business interests
- Savings and investments
- Pensions
- Financial support following separation
The Legal Status of Prenuptial Agreements
Pre-nuptial agreements are not automatically binding in England and Wales. The court retains the power to decide what happens to a couple’s finances on divorce, and an agreement cannot remove that power entirely.
However, the Supreme Court confirmed in Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42 that:
“The court should give effect to a nuptial agreement that is freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications unless in the circumstances prevailing it would not be fair to hold the parties to their agreement.”
Whether the court gives weight to your agreement usually comes down to four things: did both parties enter into it freely, did each have independent legal advice, was there full financial disclosure, and does it still leave both parties – and any children – able to meet their reasonable needs.
There’s one factor that matters more for a pre-nup than a post-nup: timing. Sign it too close to the wedding, with the venue booked and family already arriving, and it’s much easier to argue you didn’t really feel free to walk away – which goes straight to the heart of the Radmacher test. Courts have repeatedly taken a dim view of agreements sprung on someone in the final days before the ceremony. There’s no fixed cut-off, but the advice is always the same: start the conversation weeks or months out, not days.
If time has already run out, it isn’t necessarily fatal. Signing a post-nuptial agreement shortly after the wedding, mirroring the same terms, can help close that gap and put the arrangement on firmer ground.
No solicitor can guarantee that a pre-nuptial agreement will be upheld in every circumstance. However, careful drafting, early timing, and compliance with these safeguards can significantly increase the likelihood of the agreement being respected by the court if it is ever relied upon.
Sobiah Hussain
Partner, Solicitor-Advocate, Collaborative Law Practitioner & Head of Private Family Law
Meet the teamTwo things matter most in making an agreement stick: each party getting their own independent legal advice, and both giving full financial disclosure – assets, liabilities, income, pensions, the lot. Skip either and you’re handing the other side an argument to challenge it later.
We can advise on the level of disclosure required and help ensure the process is completed properly, reducing the risk of disputes further down the line.
Inheritance is one of the most common reasons people enter into pre nuptial agreements. You may already have received an inheritance, expect one in the future, or want to protect assets that have stayed within your family for generations.
A carefully drafted agreement can help clarify how those assets should be treated if the relationship later breaks down. Each case depends on its own facts, but getting advice early reduces uncertainty and the risk of disputes down the line.
Where one or both parties own a business, a prenuptial agreement can provide important protection and certainty before the marriage even takes place. Business interests can become one of the most valuable – and hardest to divide – assets in a marriage.
A prenuptial agreement can help clarify how business interests should be treated and protect the long-term stability of the business – particularly relevant if you’ve got co-founders or family members with a stake in it too.
Prenuptial agreements are often given significant weight by the courts, but there are circumstances in which one party may seek to challenge the agreement following a separation or divorce.
Arguments can arise where it’s alleged that important financial information wasn’t disclosed, that one party didn’t properly understand the agreement, or that unfair pressure was applied – including pressure created simply by the timing, if it was signed too close to the wedding. A party may also argue the agreement no longer produces a fair outcome because circumstances have changed significantly since it was signed.
Get the preparation right at the outset, and signed in good time, and there’s far less for anyone to attack later.
Meet the Private Family Law Team
Sobiah Hussain
Partner, Solicitor-Advocate, Collaborative Law Practitioner & Head of Private Family Law
Alison Page
Senior Associate Solicitor
Emma Macdonald
Chartered Legal Executive
Irrum Shah
Senior Associate Solicitor
Frequently Asked Questions
A prenuptial agreement is an agreement entered into before a couple marry or enter into a civil partnership. It records how they intend property, finances and other assets to be dealt with if they later separate or divorce.
It can cover matters including property, savings, pensions, inheritance, business interests and financial support.
Prenuptial agreements are not automatically legally binding in England and Wales. However, the Family Court can give significant weight to an agreement where it was freely entered into by both parties with an understanding of its implications and it would be fair to hold them to it.
Factors including independent legal advice, financial disclosure, timing and the needs of both parties and any children can be important.
A prenuptial agreement should be discussed and prepared well before the wedding so that both parties have sufficient time to consider the proposed terms, provide financial disclosure and obtain independent legal advice.
There is no current statutory rule that makes an agreement automatically valid or invalid simply because it was signed a particular number of days before the wedding. However, leaving the process until shortly before the ceremony can create questions about whether each person had sufficient time and entered into the agreement freely.
Both parties should obtain independent legal advice before signing a prenuptial agreement. Each person should therefore have their own solicitor advising them on the proposed agreement and how it affects their legal and financial position.
This helps demonstrate that both parties understood the implications of the agreement before deciding to enter into it.
Appropriate financial disclosure is an important part of preparing a prenuptial agreement. Each person should have sufficient information about the other’s financial circumstances to understand the agreement they are being asked to sign.
The disclosure required will depend on the circumstances but may include property, savings, investments, pensions, businesses, income and liabilities.
A prenuptial agreement can record how you and your future spouse intend your business interests to be treated if you later divorce.
This can be particularly relevant where the business existed before the marriage, is owned with other shareholders or family members, or is expected to increase significantly in value.
The agreement cannot remove the Family Court’s jurisdiction, but it can provide important evidence of what the parties intended before marrying.
A prenuptial agreement can record how you and your future spouse intend inherited assets to be treated if your marriage later ends.
This may be relevant where an inheritance has already been received, significant assets are expected to be inherited in the future or property or wealth has remained within a family for generations.
How inherited wealth is ultimately treated in the event of a divorce will depend on the individual circumstances.
If your wedding is approaching, you should obtain specialist advice as soon as possible rather than rushing to sign an agreement without sufficient time for advice, disclosure and proper consideration.
Depending on the circumstances, it may be appropriate to consider a postnuptial agreement after the wedding. A family law solicitor can advise on the best approach based on the time available and the proposed terms.
Yes. If circumstances change after the marriage, the couple can consider a postnuptial agreement to update or reaffirm the arrangements they previously made.
This might be appropriate following an inheritance, the birth of children, significant changes in wealth or changes involving a business.
The cost of preparing a prenuptial agreement will depend on the complexity of the couple’s finances, the proposed terms and the amount of negotiation required.
Agreements involving businesses, trusts, substantial property portfolios, international assets or complex financial arrangements are likely to require more work than relatively straightforward agreements.
We can discuss the likely cost once we understand your circumstances and what you want the agreement to achieve.
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