Being asked to sign a prenuptial agreement, or considering raising the subject with a partner, is among the more sensitive conversations a couple can have before marriage. It is also one of the questions our family team at Johnson Astills in Leicester and Loughborough is asked most often, and the underlying concern is almost always the same: should I be offended by a prenup?
The short answer is that a properly drafted prenuptial agreement is now widely treated as sensible financial planning between two adults who intend to stay married, rather than as a statement of doubt about the relationship itself.
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How Attitudes To Prenups Have Changed
Until relatively recently, prenups have been widely seen as the preserve of celebrities, the super rich, or marriages entered into without much faith in the outcome. That picture has changed considerably over the last fifteen years. The Supreme Court has confirmed that a fair and properly prepared prenup should be given serious weight when a marriage breaks down, and the Law Commission has recommended a clearer set of rules to support that position. Resolution, the professional body for family lawyers, now treats sensitively drafted prenups as a mainstream feature of family practice.
Why So Many Couples Now Choose One
The shape of a typical marriage in England and Wales has changed considerably over the last generation, and prenuptial agreements have become more relevant as a result.
Couples now marry, on average, well into their thirties rather than their early twenties. By that time, many already have property in their own name, an established pension, and savings or a share in a business they have spent years building. Second marriages are increasingly common, often involving children from a previous relationship whose financial security parents naturally want to protect. Family businesses being passed down through generations, inheritance arriving later in life as parents live longer, and the rise of self-employment have all added to the increase in couples looking into the possibility of entering into a prenup before their marriage.
Is A Prenup A Red Flag?
No, in modern family practice, a prenup is rarely a red flag. A request for a prenup tends to come from one of four places, and none of those four amounts to doubt in the relationship itself.
The first is family pressure, particularly where one partner stands to inherit business shares, farmland, or property that older generations want to keep within the family. The second is the protection of pre-existing assets, such as a flat bought before the relationship began, pension contributions made over a long career, or a stake in a limited company. The third is the safeguarding of children from a previous relationship, whose interests a parent has a clear duty to consider. The fourth, increasingly common as people marry later in life, is simple parity, where two financially independent adults want to record what each brought into the marriage and how they would like things to be divided if the relationship ever ended.
That said, there are situations where the request may give cause for concern. An agreement produced only days before the wedding, drafted solely by the wealthier party’s solicitor, accompanied by pressure not to seek independent advice or by a refusal to share basic financial information is a different matter. Those features tend to weaken the agreement and almost always point to something worth discussing with an independent family lawyer before anything is signed.
Are Prenups Legally Binding?
A prenup is not automatically binding in England and Wales, but courts will usually give effect to one provided certain safeguards have been observed. The Law Commission, the Law Society, and Resolution broadly agree on what those safeguards look like.
The agreement should be signed at least 28 days before the wedding rather than in the last-minute rush. Each party should take independent legal advice from their own solicitor. Both should share full and honest details of their assets, debts, income, and pensions. The terms should be fair when read as a whole, and they should not leave either partner or any child of the family in real financial difficulty. Agreements drafted to these standards, and reviewed when life changes, such as on the birth of a child, a career change, or retirement, tend to be treated as a strong reflection of what the couple actually intended.
When To Raise The Issue Of A Prenup
If you are the one thinking of bringing up the subject of a prenup, the timing and tone of the conversation matter as much as the content itself. Raising the subject months ahead of the wedding, framing it around protecting both of you rather than only yourself, and offering to pay for your partner’s independent legal advice each make the conversation a great deal easier. If you are the one being asked, it is reasonable to take time, to instruct your own solicitor and to negotiate the detail rather than simply signing what is put in front of you. A good prenup is one both of you would still be happy to have signed when looking back at it ten years from now.
Speak To Our Family Law Team
Johnson Astills is a Lexcel accredited, Legal 500 listed firm with family lawyers based in Leicester and Loughborough serving clients across the East Midlands. Our team can draft a new prenuptial agreement, review one you have been asked to sign, or advise on the effects of a prenup if your relationship breaks down.
Please call us free now on 0800 059 0600 or complete a Free Online Enquiry and a member of the team will get back to you soon.
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