Proposals which would make pre-nups legally binding 'are being considered'
14 Jul 2010
The Law Comission has put forward new proposals which could see
pre-nuptial
agreements become legally binding in the coming years.
Although the documents are currently not a part of UK family law,
judges may take them into account when splitting up assets
following a
divorce.
However, the Law Commission now wants to see them become officially
recognised in British courts in the same way as they are in
America.
Professor Elizabeth Cooke is one of the representatives involved in
bringing the proposals before the government and she said they
could put a stop to the "financial carnage" which sometimes occurs
during acrimonious divorces, as well as giving more
predictability.
"There is nothing that will take away the general pain of divorce
but it may be that pre-nups can go some way to making things more
certain," the expert remarked.
High-profile celebrity divorce cases in which multi-million pound
settlements are paid are thought to have contributed to the Law
Commission's eagerness to alter legislation to include
pre-nups.
If the plans do become law, it would be a legal requirement that
each signatory receives legal advice beforehand and that checks
would be put into place to ensure nobody is coerced into signing
one.
This comes after research from Unbiased.co.uk found that 82 per
cent of solicitors believe pre-nups could help to protect
assets.
Meanwhile, senior lecturer at the College of Law Nancy Duffield
recently recommended them to people who are getting married, as she
said they can still be useful even though they are not legally
binding yet.
