With statistics showing that one in three marriages now end in divorce, the sad facts are that however true love may seem, it may not always last. While some may consider such a process unromantic, a pre-nuptial agreement can help assuage any concerns about potential ‘gold-diggers’ and help keep things less messy, should a marriage end in divorce. A Manchester divorce lawyer can help you draft a prenuptial agreement or offer expert legal advice on what to do with it, should you and your partner be considering divorce.
Woolley and co. Solicitors offer this definition of what a prenuptial agreement actually is, “A prenuptial agreement provides clarity for couples in respect of their finances and children in their relationship. The Courts are not obliged under UK law to keep to the agreement but unless there have been significant changes they are likely to regard the agreement as very persuasive.” It basically covers each partner for their assets, should the relationship end in divorce; a popular ‘prenup’ is that each partner takes away exactly what they brought to the marriage, which often protects the wealthier of the spouses.
The fact that UK Courts are not technically obliged to keep to the agreement shows that prenuptial agreements are not particularly popular in England, with America being a nation more known for its ‘prenups’. The Hollywood film ‘Intolerable Cruelty’ showed George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones battling over their various assets in glossy Technicolor; while this film obviously glamourised the process of prenuptial agreements, celebrities can often have fairly ridiculous clauses written into their prenups, including the number of times that the couple must have sex per week and a 100,000 dollar fine if the wife’s weight climbs above 120 pounds! (The guilty parties shall remain nameless…)
In our more normal, less crazy world, prenuptial agreements can still be taken out as an effective ‘damage control’ device, should the relationship sour. As the ‘Prenuptial Agreements’ website states, “The range of what can be in a prenuptial agreement is flexible and can accommodate most of the individual wants and desires that a marrying couple may have. On the other hand, there are some strict rules about what cannot be in a prenuptial agreement.” Such rules include clauses about the custody of children and infidelity, yet can also cover more subtle nuances about marital problems; it is well worth getting a divorce lawyer to go over the rules with you and discuss the best course of action for you to take.
A prenuptial agreement does not necessarily mean that you do not take your relationship as seriously as others, it may just be a sign that you are not naive about the truths and facts about marriages; it may just be worth researching, should you want a safety net below your marriage.
