Do we need to get a Prenuptial Agreement?

m.johnson

I am due to get married early next year and would appreciate some advice on protecting my financial assets. I currently own my own house which has a high amount of equity in it. We will probably move to a new house before the wedding which we agreed will be in my sole name as we will be looking to buy another house in a few years which will be in his name (for mortgage rate purposes and so I don't have to sell if we split). I also have savings worth several thousand pounds.

My total assets probably total over 60k at present, where as my partner has none. We would not be getting married if we thought we was going to break up but we are aware of the high divorce statistics and are realistic that it could happen. We have agreed that the majority of my assets should remain mine if we did split up as long as I gave him a financial payment to ensure he would be able to rent his own place if we broke up (I am currently helping him clear his debts so that he can start getting his own savings, so if anything did happen he should have enough for his own deposit anyway). My main concerns are 1 I don't lose a high amount of money which I have worked hard for and 2 that I do not have to sell my house if we split up.

It seems the best option would be for us to get a prenuptial agreement. We both have agreed to this. Does this sound correct or does anybody else have any other recommendations? I have had a quote from one solicitor who has quoted £750+VAT. Does that sound about right?

Thank you,

davidwood123

Don't get married if you're worried about the money you will lose

lika_86

Agreed. The best way to preserve your assets is to not get married.

Prenups aren't legally binding, post-nups might be persuasive on a court but are no guarantee as to how your assets would be divided in the event of a divorce.

jjgold

Doesnt seem worth it for the amount of money involved

AndyBSG

As mentioned before, pre-nups are not legally binding in the UK, it's strictly an American thing.

If you have a 'short marriage'(generally determined to be 5 years or less) then UK courts will largely return you both to the financial position you were in before getting married where possible or will attempt to make enough of a provision for the 'poorer' partner to receive enough assets to enable them to get back on their feet.

Anything beyond that and your assets are definitely at risk and there's not much you can do about it no matter how many solicitor's you pay £750 to for drafting a completely unbinding document.

Some judges may take pre-nups into consideration but just as many will ignore them totally on the basis that 99% of couples getting married live in a fantasy 'happily ever after' world and don't believe splitting up happens so would sign anything to write away their legal rights.

Tipsntreats

I hardly ever, come to this board, but your thread intrigued me.
I know nothing about Prenuptial agreements, but I have added some links for you m.johnson.
http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/pros-and-cons-premarital-agreements-prenuptials.html
http://prenuptial-agreement.org/prenuptial-agreements?gclid=CP_13oStvdMCFWq17QodT_QHWg

leespot

It probably would best that you don't get married. Just to be sure I've read your post properly - he's bringing nothing to the relationship (money wise) but you're helping him clear his debts, and then if you do actually break up he wants you to give him some money so he can rent somewhere??

74jax

I've mentioned it a few times on here when a post like this pops up. We have a pre-nup. Hubby wanted one, I couldn't have cared less. So as I didn't mind either way we got one.

It basically says if we split in first ten years we agree to take what we came to the marriage with (% wise) after ten years is invalid. It is also invalid if we split due to hubby having an affair.

Hubby's assets when we married were way greater than mine, around 700k to my.... urmmmmm 4k maybe......

They aren't legally binding, some judges take them into account, some don't. I'm on my 2nd marriage, I didn't go into my first thinking of divorce but it happened.

It made hubby feel better, I couldn't have cared less, 4 years into the marriage and I don't even know where my copy is. Is irrelevant to me.

Also, you should have two solicitors. Obviously to help each side be happy with its content. In my case hubby paid for both.

davidwood123

74jax wrote: »

I've mentioned it a few times on here when a post like this pops up. We have a pre-nup. Hubby wanted one, I couldn't have cared less. So as I didn't mind either way we got one.

It basically says if we split in first ten years we agree to take what we came to the marriage with (% wise) after ten years is invalid. It is also invalid if we split due to hubby having an affair.

Hubby's assets when we married were way greater than mine, around 700k to my.... urmmmmm 4k maybe......

They aren't legally binding, some judges take them into account, some don't. I'm on my 2nd marriage, I didn't go into my first thinking of divorce but it happened.

It made hubby feel better, I couldn't have cared less, 4 years into the marriage and I don't even know where my copy is. Is irrelevant to me.

Also, you should have two solicitors. Obviously to help each side be happy with its content. In my case hubby paid for both.

If things turned nasty ( possible affair ) your views on the situation could change too and you make want revenge by hitting him in the pocket


It's happened before, will happen again and can happen to anyone.....even you

cbrown372

Tipsntreats wrote: »

I hardly ever, come to this board, but your thread intrigued me.
I know nothing about Prenuptial agreements, but I have added some links for you m.johnson.
http://family.findlaw.com/marriage/pros-and-cons-premarital-agreements-prenuptials.html
http://prenuptial-agreement.org/prenuptial-agreements?gclid=CP_13oStvdMCFWq17QodT_QHWg

The first link is American based and the second link basically tells you that you can only use this particular law firm at presumably great expense with no guarantee.

FBaby

I really dislike these kind of threads. Marriage IS about taking risks and that's what defines the level of commitment that IS marriage. I really don't get why people would get married if it isn't that they feel that the person they are marrying are worth the risk,

Most marriages post a certain age, even more second marriages are likely to involve one member coming in with more money than the other and therefore more to lose financially. Should every such marriage come with an agreement that there are no financial tie?

My OH had more to lose financially marrying me and that is after having gone through it with is first wife. I totally understood and respected what marrying me under the circumstances meant to him, but that's one of the reasons why I love him so much, because I know he loved me enough to take the risk. Similarly, he could have gone bankrupt before we met and I would have been the one with more assets, and similarly, I loved him enough to be prepared to lose half my wealth for him.

That's why we chose to marry.