Fair to have a pre-nup??

cici71

This is regarding safeguarding the asset I have worked hard for my children's inheritance. I am due to marry in May. We live together in the house I bought many years ago and am still solely responsible for paying the mortgage. It's an interest only mortgage so later in life i will need to sell it to pay off the original mortgage and luckily the equity in it can buy a home outright (further away from London). Is it fair and understandable that I wish to have a pre nuptial agreement that states on divorce the home remains mine (or the value up until marriage is protected?) . I have listed above my reasons. I would prefer not to have comments as to whether I should marry. We all know that relationships can end in divorce and they can be nasty. Thanks

Dan83

I'm no expert in this kind of stuff, so ignore me if you want.

A good friend of mine bought a house when he was younger, various short term girlfriends moved in and out, then he met a girl and settled down and got married. Lived together for a few years, then she left him, they later divorced. Things went to court, she tried to take him to the cleaners and lost. From what he says, she couldn't touch the house because it was his, bought before they got together, he lives in it a number of years alone. Her name was never on the mortgage, only his.

I don't know all the ins and out of it, and there was also children involved.

cici71

Nope def won't ignore you :-) thanks for that info

Nasqueron

Pre-nup can be used as a guide in divorce but isn't legally binding and courts can ignore them if they feel it is right to do so

http://www.terry.co.uk/pre-nuptial.html

Radmacher v Granatino in the supreme court ruled they can have weight but didn't set a precedence

http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed68495

Playing_with_Fire_2

Yes, a pre-nup can be used for what you are describing. You and your partner should discuss together what you think would be fair, what value of the house will be considered yours, whether this would change if one of you needed to give up work, what other assets that either of you have now should also be considered sole property rather than joint.

You should look up the cases where a pre-nup was in place but a different settlement was awarded following a divorce (eg when kids are involved or the pre-nup was thought to be unfair or under duress).

If you are marrying in May then look at the pre-nup asap - I think that if it is does within days/weeks of the marriage then it can be argued that one partner was forcing the other to sign the agreement or cancel the ceremony.

The way I look at it, if you don't have a pre-nup, you are saying that the best way to split your assets in the event of a divorce/dissolution is whatever a court says at the time, plus big fees for lawyers. If you think you two have a better way of splitting your assets, then a pre-nup is the way to do this.

I think this is fair and reasonable, but it could be a challenging conversation to have with your partner. Have you spoken about how you will manage your money when you are married (if this will change)?
You will need to think also about what you are protecting (eg the equity to date). To me it seems that if you have joint bills including the mortgage/any home improvements after you are married then your partner would expect that they would have some share in the home?

savingpennies

If you have children from a previous relationship have you thought of setting up some kind of trust to safeguard the children. Your house and any other assets you have would be held in trust for you and them later on in life. Not cheap: I was quoted about 3-4 thousand pounds but having to give up part of your house/assets may prove more expensive in the long run. What did I do? I've made an appointment to set one up. Better safe than sorry.

HappyMJ

cici71 wrote: »

This is regarding safeguarding the asset I have worked hard for my children's inheritance. I am due to marry in May. We live together in the house I bought many years ago and am still solely responsible for paying the mortgage. It's an interest only mortgage so later in life i will need to sell it to pay off the original mortgage and luckily the equity in it can buy a home outright (further away from London). Is it fair and understandable that I wish to have a pre nuptial agreement that states on divorce the home remains mine (or the value up until marriage is protected?) . I have listed above my reasons. I would prefer not to have comments as to whether I should marry. We all know that relationships can end in divorce and they can be nasty. Thanks

Do you currently live together as if married?

The value counts when you moved on together and it is possible. It's very difficult to get exactly right and a properly drawn up pre-nup will costs thousands. It's not a short document.

The easiest way to protect your investment is to not allow your partner to move in as the home then becomes the marital home.

You could let out your property using the income only for maintaining the property and paying the mortgage and rent a property of your choosing splitting the rent between you however you see fit.

The problem is if your partner moves in they can get a beneficial interest quite easily by paying more than their fair share of the expenses or by doing work on the house.

If you sell the property at any point during your marriage and buy another property together to live in as the marital property then no matter what the pre-nup says it's definitely marital property at that point and you have to share it.