Pre- nuptial Agreements, are they legal?

Helen Habershon, Family Law specialists writes....

The heiress, Katrin Racmacher made history recently when a court backed her prenuptial agreement with husband of 10 years, Nicolas Granatino. On 2 July, three judges from the Court of Appeal ruled in a test case that one of Europe’s richest women should not have to pay millions to her former husband because of a contract they signed together before their wedding day.

When the couple separated in 2006, Katrin assumed her husband would stick to the terms of a deal signed before their 1998 marriage, in which they both agreed to waive their rights to claims against each other’s wealth in the case of divorce. Not so, in fact, last year, he won a £5.56 million share of her fortune in the High court in London. Last week, the ruling was overturned and her husband’s share was slashed to £700,000 plus housing and maintenance.

This case has effectively established a change in the law on prenuptial agreements, without the need for parliament to pass legislation. The court of appeal judges on hearing the case said that the courts should now take account of premarital deals on splitting a couples assets.