Pre-nuptial agreements

Legal Status UK
As of 21 Oct 2010, Pre-nuptial agreements could be considered legal.

"Judges said the marriage contract made between Ms Radmacher and her ex-husband should be recognised and kicked out his claim to a larger slice of her wealth. The Supreme Court’s ruling brings England into line with most of Europe and the US where pre-nups are legally binding. The 41-year-old heiress only has to pay Nicolas Granatino £1million, reversing an early settlement of almost £6million. ‘I’m delighted Britain has upheld fairness,’ said Ms Radmacher. ‘For Nicolas and I, in our homelands – France and Germany – these agreements are entirely normal. ‘We made a promise that if anything went wrong, both of us would walk away without making financial claims. That promise was broken.’ Lord Phillips, president of the Supreme Court, said the courts would still have the discretion to waive any pre-nup or post-nup agreement.

Mr Granatino, 39, and Ms Radmacher married in London in 1998. They separated four years ago and divorced in Britain. They have two daughters Chiara, 11 and Chloe, eight."

"... Yesterday the supreme court ruled for the first time that prenuptial agreements should have "decisive weight" in English divorce courts. It means that Granatino, 38, father of Radmacher's two young daughters, must be content with an earlier settlement awarding him £1m and the use of a £2.5m home until his younger daughter is 22. Radmacher, who is 40, is thought to be worth more than £100m, largely inherited from her family paper firm. Unlike the US and the rest of Europe, prenuptial contracts had little force in divorce settlements in England, with family court judges relying instead on the dictum that marital assets should be divided equally between the couple. It was, said Radmacher's solicitor Simon Bruce, a hugely important change in English law: "Prenups are binding, so long as they are fair. Couples can now decide in the best of times what the outcome should be in the worst of times." ..."