A pre-nuptial agreement is a legal agreement entered into prior to a marriage or civil partnership. The agreement will detail who owns what at the time of marriage and also how the couple intend that those assets should be divided in the event of divorce or separation.
Technically speaking these types of agreement are not legally binding in this country; however, following the landmark Supreme Court case of Radmacher v Granatino, the Court will now give great weight to these agreements and uphold the terms agreed except in rare cases. Such cases might be where either the agreement was not entered into freely by either party, that either party did not have a full understanding of the implications of the agreement at the time of signing it or if it would be essentially unfair to uphold the agreement. These agreements cannot override the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.
If you are considering entering into a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement then you should take the following steps to ensure the best chance of it being upheld at some point in the future: