Pre-nuptial agreements given recognition in English law

‘Copyright Telegraph.co.uk’

Pre-nuptial agreements were given significant recognition in English law for the first time yesterday after a wealthy German heiress won a landmark legal battle with her former husband.

Three Appeal Court judges ruled that the assets of Katrin Radmacher – a paper industry heiress said to be worth £100 million – should be protected from her French ex-husband because of the pre-nuptial contract they signed before they married.

In yesterday’s landmark ruling, Mr Granatino’s settlement was cut to about £1 million as a lump sum in lieu of maintenance, with a fund of £2.5 million for a house which will be returned to Miss Radmacher when the youngest of their two daughters, who is six, reaches 22.

His debts of about £700,000 are to be paid off by the heiress, who had always agreed to this settlement.

But the ruling made clear the court was awarding the money for the children – which the pre-nup always stated fell outside its remit.

It was said that in any future cases, judges should give “due weight” to pre-nuptial contracts freely entered into.

Lord Justice Thorpe stressed that “a carefully fashioned contract should be available as an alternative to the stress, anxieties and expense of a submission to the width of the judicial discretion.”

Emphasising how English matrimonial law was out-of-step with Europe, he also said courts here were “in danger of isolation” on the issue. In France or Germany, Mr Granatino would have been awarded nothing because of the pre-nuptial contract.

The contracts are still not binding under English law, as there is no provision for them under Section 25 of the 1973 Matrimonial Causes Act.

The Law Commission is due to report on the matter by 2012 and draft legislation is expected to follow. David Lister, a partner in matrimonial law at solicitors Mischon de Reya, said it was the most important ruling on pre-nups to date because the judges made clear they wanted it applied across the board.

Although it would take an act of Parliament to “enshrine” them in law, Vanessa Lloyd Platt, another leading divorce lawyersaid the judgment had “effectively created a situation where that is the case”. “This will open the floodgates for people asking for pre-nups,” she said, noting: “It’s not just the wealthy, it’s filtered down to the middle classes.” “Lawyers will be advising, ‘It’s better to have one that not.”

Thinking about a pre nuptial agreement? Use our template version for prenuptial agreements.

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