Prenuptial Agreement

New Edition: This prenuptial agreement template has been updated to incorporate the legal changes created by the judgment of the UK supreme court in the case of Radmacher v Granatino, which ruled that prenups ought to be given decisive weight.

A Prenuptial Agreement form helps you and your partner to make a formal arrangement concerning your financial matters.

Our Prenuptual Agreement is suitable for couples either getting married or for couples entering into a Civil Partnership. 

It's available as a 'Download Now' eKit, consisting of a comprehensive guidance booklet and prenuptial agreement template and Pre-Civil Partnership Agreement.

More and more people are finding that making a prenup is the ideal way to avoid expensive divorce settlements should separation occur. And although they are not strictly legally binding, courts are increasingly taking prenups into consideration when they are making financial settlements for a divorce. 

A Prenuptual Agreement is a long-established way to set out your wishes in advance: and it's often easier to do this before the marriage than during the bitter wrangling that can accompany a divorce.

What can a prenuptial agreement form cover?

If your Prenuptual Agreement covers anything other than financial matters, you run a very real risk of having the judge not consider it. So the best advice is to stick to financial matters only. This means that your prenuptial agreement form cannot cover:

• Lists of domestic duties - so no lists of who washes up on Thursdays or who can come home late on Wednesdays! 
• Lists of expected behaviour - so no "being nice" on Tuesdays, or quality-time Mondays!
• Provisions of care and contact with children - again, the courts may consider the whole Prenuptual Agreement invalid if it attempts to bind a child to the terms of a prenup reached by the parents.

What does Lawpack's Prenuptial Agreement template cover?

The eKit covers what happens on divorce or separation to:

• The 'matrimonial' home
• Contents of the 'matrimonial' home
• Other property owned separately
• Other property held jointly (whether as tenants in common or as joint tenants)
• Joint bank accounts
• Maintenance payments during separation
• Specific gifts
• Jurisdiction (i.e. England and Wales)
• Costs (i.e. of making the prenup)

Will I need to see a solicitor to make a Prenuptual Agreement?

If you want to give yourself the best chance of persuading a judge to take your prenup into account, you must take it to be double-checked by a solicitor. By using this eKit and doing the negotiating and drafting yourself, you should save time and money in legal fees, as you will have done most of the work yourself. With a prenuptial agreement form already in place, your time at the solicitors will be minimal and will merely involve them in 'rubber stamping' the prenuptual agreement you have made.

With our Prenuptial  Kit for just £24.99 you will have a solicitor-drafted prenuptial agreement template with standard clauses that are easy to customise and insert to match your wishes. We talk you through the simple further steps you must take to validate it and to give your prenup the best chance possible of being considered in court should you divorce.

This Prenup Kit has been written by by Philippa Pearson, specialist family law solicitor and member of Resolution (formerly the Solicitors’ Family Law Association).

Give yourself and your partner the security you deserve: make a prenup today.

More information:

• Pre-nups 'on the up'
• Do I really need a prenup agreement?
• Prenups to become legally binding
• Prenup agreements: All you need to know…

External information:

• Wikipedia
• BBC News: "Supreme Court rules in favour of pre-nuptial agreement"
• Law Commission: Review of pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements

Prenuptial Agreement contents:

• What is a Prenuptial Agreement?
• What can a Prenuptial Agreement cover?
• Dos and don'ts
• The legal requirements of a Prenuptial Agreement
• How to reach your agreement
• Prenuptial Agreements and property
• Prenuptial Agreements and death
• Prenuptial Agreements and separation
• Finances on divorce
• How to use the draft agreement contained in the eKit
• Signing your Prenuptial Agreement
• Template Prenuptial Agreement including a Schedule of Financial Information and List of Contents of the Matrimonial Home