Postnuptial Agreements

The cost will depend on the complexity of your finances, the assets involved and whether the agreement can be agreed relatively quickly or requires negotiation between solicitors. Matters involving businesses, trusts, overseas assets or significant investments are likely to require more detailed advice. Our fees and hourly rates are competitive for specialist family lawyers. We will explain our likely fees at the outset so you understand the costs before work begins.

As with any legal matter, this varies. Typically, a month is about average. We have completed many postnuptial agreements within a few weeks where both parties are already in agreement and have made clear to us and any other lawyers involved that they wish to conclude rapidly and financial information is readily available. More complex agreements, or those involving negotiations, business valuations or trust structures, will almost certainly take longer. It is generally better to allow sufficient time to ensure the agreement is properly prepared, rather than rushing the process.

In simple terms, no. A court will always look at the terms of the agreement and how and why the agreement came about.

One difference which can impact on the weight a court attaches to a prenuptial agreement is if there is any suggestion of it being rushed or any pressure exerted. As a result, a prenuptial agreement should be signed at least 28 days as a matter of best practice before the wedding, whereas there is no such deadline for a postnuptial agreement.

The courts apply the same legal principles to both, and each can carry significant weight where the agreement has been properly prepared, both parties have received independent legal advice, there has been full financial disclosure and the outcome remains fair.

There are many reasons. The most common reasons we see are that clients have not set aside sufficient time to agree a prenup or found it too awkward to raise issue before getting married.

The second most common reason clients come to us is due to a significant change in circumstances after marriage, such as having children, starting or growing a business, receiving an inheritance, joining a family business or building substantial wealth.

Yes. A postnuptial agreement can provide greater certainty as finances evolve. We quite frequently have clients who are setting up their own business, often with a business partner and the trigger can be the client and/or business partner becoming concerned about his, her or their interests being impacted if they were to enter into business.

The timing of the agreement is only one factor the court will consider. Other factors apply such as financial dependence, how assets have been and are continuing to be owned and dealt with, relationship difficulties or changing personal circumstances.

Even where clients come to us and ask this question, having perhaps been married for 5 years or more, how assets are held and applied is a significant consideration, rather than the length of the marriage alone.

If you are trying to retrospectively relabel assets as being separate property that have, during the course of the marriage, been intermingled and been applied for the benefit of both parties, this is unlikely to be agreed or considered fair.

In practice, yes.

If you want the agreement to be likely to stand up to court scrutiny independent legal advice for each spouse is strongly advised.

Separate advice avoids an almost certain conflict of interest and helps ensure that both parties understand the agreement and its consequences. This is one of the factors the court is likely to consider when deciding how much weight to give the agreement in the future.