Family

Post-Nuptial Agreements

A Post-Nuptial Agreement is a contract signed after a marriage, setting out what should happen in the event that the marriage breaks down – unlike its counterpart, a Pre-Nuptial Agreement, which is decided before the marriage takes place.

The advantages of these nuptial agreements include that you can make it clear to one another that certain property belongs to you alone and will not be shared in the event of a divorce. Such property is often referred to by family lawyers as “non-matrimonial property” and you can protect these assets so they are “ringfenced” from one another, such as inherited assets, family heirlooms, an interest in a family business, gifts received from a third party, or property acquired before your marriage, even the family pet!

The main advantage of this agreement is that it provides a level of certainty about what will happen to finances in the event of the marriage breaking down in the future.

Before entering into this agreement, both parties need to tell each other what their financial position is, and they each get their own legal advice. If both parties freely enter into such agreements knowing what the implications are and intending to be bound by them, then the agreement will usually be binding and would be upheld by the divorce court, unless that would be unfair for one of the parties. For instance, if the couple have a child and the agreement does not properly provide for the primary carer of that child.

We’re very happy to offer advice regarding both Pre and Post-Nuptial Agreements – please feel free to get in touch with our Family team on 01228 552222, or email us at hello@burnetts.co.uk.