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Although prenuptial agreements are big business in countries such as America, in England they have only ever been taken into consideration, never enforced without question/automatically by the courts.
The Court of Appeal in London is due to hear a case brought by a wealthy German heiress, to enforce a pre-nuptial agreement which would leave her husband with nothing. If successful, the case could change the law by making pre-nuptial agreements enforceable in England.
Katrin Radmacher, reputedly worth £100 million, is unhappy that the divorce courts have ordered her to pay Nicolas Granatino a one-off sum of £5.6 million when, in the contract they signed under German law before they married in 1998, it was agreed that he would not make a claim against her if they separated. Mr Granatino gave up a $470,000 a year banking position shortly after they married to pursue an academic career from which he now expects to earn only £30,000 a year.
Oliver Gravell, partner and divorce specialist at MSI's East Anglia law firm, Birketts, commented: “Mr Granatino was clearly the financially weaker half of this marriage, and that is why the divorce court awarded him a lump sum, even though the existence of this pre-nuptial contract would have been known to the judge hearing the initial case. I think it is unlikely that the Court of Appeal will rule in Ms Radmacher’s favour since doing so could result in many weaker parties to marriages being encouraged to sign away any right to make a claim in the event that the marriage breaks down.”
This contrasts with the recent Court of Appeal case of Macleod where the court decided that "post nuptial settlements" – i.e. agreements signed after the marriage, would be binding on the court. Solicitors are now advising clients who wish to write a pre-nuptial agreement to include provision in them that they should be reconfirmed after the wedding with a separate agreement.
For more information
Please contact Nicki Ramsbottom at Birketts
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