Kate Booth

Pre-Nuptial-Agreement-Enquiries
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Increase in Blended Families Leads to Rise in Pre-Nuptial Agreement Enquiries

Published on
Kate Booth
Kate Booth
Solicitor, Head of Family & Matrimonial
Brindley, Twist, Tafft & James Solicitors (BTTJ)

More people planning their second, third or fourth wedding are entering into pre-nuptial agreements with their future spouse.

Step-families or blended families are the one of the fastest growing types of families in the UK making up about a third of all UK households.

Older people who might previously have had a bad experience and are looking to re-marry are among those most commonly seeking a pre-nup and over recent years the importance of pre-nups has grown.

Historically they were not binding, but now they will hold sway in court when it can be shown that the agreement is fair to both parties. Both need to have had ample opportunity to seek independent legal advice, the agreement needs to be signed by both parties well in advance of the marriage and both parties must have given full disclosure about their personal finances before the marriage takes place.

With these safeguards, the court is likely to recognise that the pre-nuptial agreement was entered into together and in that case, it can be binding.

Where it can get complicated is when circumstances change – for example if children come along. In cases such as these it is important to review and update any initial agreement, so it remains relevant to the present-day family situation.

More than just factoring in financial situations a pre-nup offers the opportunity to look at the whole picture, taking all assets into account, ranging from family businesses to pets.

There may be someone who has their own business or is a joint owner of a family business. In this instance pre-nups are a useful tool to avoid a former spouse from staking a claim.

For the full range of legal services available from Brindley Twist Tafft and James log on to www.bttj.com

About Kate

Kate deals with private family law cases including divorce and related financial matters, children, injunction and cohabitation issues. She also advises clients in connection with pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.

For the full range of legal services available from Brindley Twist Tafft and James log on to www.bttj.com

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Will I Lose My Personal and Business Assets in Divorce?
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Will I Lose My Personal and Business Assets in Divorce?

Published on
Kate Booth
Kate Booth
Solicitor, Head of Family & Matrimonial
Brindley, Twist, Tafft & James Solicitors (BTTJ)

Former partners have the right to claim a stake in anything from their ex’s business to a jackpot win unless the correct legal procedures have been followed to ensure full protection.

Without a financial order in place – which includes a clean break – divorcees are leaving themselves exposed to the risk of being forced to part with personal or business assets.

A divorce simply ends a marriage. Without a financial order couples are still financially tied in the eyes of the law. So if a person later builds a big nest egg, has a successful business, makes a good return on the sale of a property or wins the lottery, their ex has the right legally to make a claim against them.

Although dividing up a business and its assets is a lot more complicated for the courts, it is still not without risk. A lot of it comes down to personal circumstance.

A court will look at various things such as the length of the marriage, when the business began, the kind of business it is, its assets, how much it was worth in the past and by how much it has increased during the marriage – in some cases a business will be deemed as an asset capable of being divided.

Factors which help determine a court’s ruling include the financial circumstances of each of the individual parties, ensuring both sets of financial needs are met to accommodate a decent standard of living.

Where possible courts will look at meeting a spouse’s financial needs without dipping into non-matrimonial assets.

A person who has remarried would generally be unable to make a claim against their former spouse, but the person who remains unmarried can still apply.

People who end their marriages with online divorces, including couples who make a joint application, may be among those who later find themselves the subject of claims.

With no legal advice included in the ‘DIY divorces’ many remain unaware the divorce simply means the end of the marriage and not the end of financial ties.

It comes back to the first piece of advice we would always give which is do not leave things, even if very amicable at the point of divorce, as if one day circumstances change – for example unemployment, illness or injury – a court can only work from values of assets at the time the application is brought.

It may rule that an increase in the value of the business should not be attributed to the person making the claim, but there is always a danger that it might be.

For further details on BTTJ log on to www.bttj.com.

Read more articles by Brindley, Twist, Tafft & James Solicitors (BTTJ).

About Kate

Kate deals with private family law cases including divorce and related financial matters, children, injunction and cohabitation issues. She also advises clients in connection with pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.

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