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Are prenuptial agreements set to become legally binding?

Proposals to make prenuptial contracts legally enforceable are amongst new plans to be outlined in a consultation paper being prepared by the Law Commission, the official body in charge of reviewing the law in England and Wales.

The changes would see pre-nups, recognised in divorce courts. Currently, such contracts which are drawn up by couples to establish how assets would be divided up in the event of a divorce are not legally binding in the U.K. Although some judges do take them into account.

The review of the law has been prompted by concern over spiralling divorce payouts and acrimonious disputes including the bitter divorce battle between Heather Mills by Sir Paul McCartney which ended with Ms Mills receiving £24 million.

The Law Commission will propose a series of options for legally binding pre and post-marriage contracts in a consultation which is expected to be published within the next two weeks.

Many family lawyers are in favour of pre-nup contracts because they believe that subsequent divorces are more easily settled without large legal costs and unnecessary bitterness.

The Law Commission is expected to set out a series of guidelines, designed to prevent spouses being coerced into signing unfair pre-nup contracts. For contracts to be upheld in courts, spouses would have to show that they had each received separate independent legal advice before signing.

The details of the consultation are due this summer but will not be published until the Supreme Court rules on the divorce of German Heiress Katrin Radmacher. A Supreme Court decision had been expected before the summer recess at the end of the month. The Law Commission report will take into account the Supreme Court ruling and the views of the nine presiding judges before publishing its consultation.

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