Top celebrity divorce lawyer Vanessa Lloyd Platt isn’t just a name in the legal world—she’s a trailblazer who’s reshaped how we think about marriage and divorce in the UK.
As the founder of Lloyd Platt & Co, she’s handled high-profile cases that have not only captivated the media but also set new standards in family law.
Known for her straightforward approach, Vanessa understands the need to protect her clients’ interests, especially in an age where prenuptial agreements are more relevant than ever.
But what exactly is involved in a “prenup”? And why are so many couples, from celebrities to everyday folks, choosing to put one in place?
Here’s what you need to know about prenups, from their surprising benefits to the fine print that can make or break them.
There is much confusion in the minds of the general public as to the meaning of a pre-nup or pre-marital contract.
I am often asked “are they binding in the UK or not?” “what do they consist of?” and “are they relevant for people who aren’t celebrities are millionaires?”
The simple answer is that pre-nuptial agreements can be binding in this country and in some cases, they will be a magnetic factor which cannot be ignored by a court in a subsequent divorce.
However, the status of a prenup is only one of many factors that a court will consider on a divorce in this country. So for example, the financial position of the parties, their ages, lifestyle, earning capacity etc will all be important factors too and the court will decide if the pre-nup is binding in a preliminary hearing.
When the parties before a marriage consider a prenup, there is certain important criteria they must follow. Firstly, the main buzzword is that it must be fair.
Secondly, the parties must have had time to consider the contents before the marriage and no less than 28 days before the date of the wedding.
There must be disclosure to each other of their finances in the schedules attached and each must have had legal advice upon the contents and the future implications of entering into it.
Further, there must be no forcing or duress on the party being asked to sign it in order that it be upheld. So, producing a prenup two days before the wedding will prevent the court from upholding it.
However, simply telling your intended that if they don’t sign such a document that the wedding will not proceed has not been found to be duress. It was said that it was just stating the obvious.
In the event that all of the above criteria are met, what goes into a typical prenup? Once the preliminary details of the parties are set out, the must common prenups divide between marital assets that will be shared in the future after the wedding and those that each bring in and wish to ringfence, or pre-marital, non-marital assets which will not be shared.
So for example, if one party wishes to protect the property or company that they had before, it can be designated non-matrimonial so that the criteria is that if they exit the marriage, that asset will go with them.
The difficulties that can arise in the smaller cases where there aren’t multiple properties to share is that if the property that one party wants to protect, subsequently becomes the matrimonial home where the parties live and have children.
If that is the only major asset, the court can and will ignore the prenup and divide the property on the basis of the party’s needs. In other words, needs will trump over the contents of a prenup.
The rest of a normal prenup will deal with the contractual nature of the document and make provisions for the parties to go on to have children. If a prenup doesn’t provide for children at a later date, it will not be upheld.
Further and more importantly, we would normally advise parties to put in a review clause since it is very difficult to predict what should occur 10, 15 or 20 years into the future.
A review clause will allow the parties to consider whether the contract is still relevant or whether it should be amended. It will then take the form of a post-nuptial agreement as it will be made after the marriage.
As a general course, most lawyers would recommend a prenup before the wedding and a post-nuptial agreement entered into after to reflect the same terms or slightly altered ones.
If you are thinking of a prenup and you then wish to move abroad, you must have a prenup or postnup that will be recognised in the jurisdiction where you intend to live.
This can then avoid conflict between jurisdictions and very expensive future litigation. A prenup contemplates what will occur in a future divorce so some believe that they are very unromantic and unnecessary.
For others, they believe that if you are aware of exactly what you will get in divorce, it will eradicate any concerns about this and ensure a very smooth divorce or relationship breakdown.
Prenups are becoming exceedingly popular now and most divorce firms are being asked to draw them up for people of all financial backgrounds.
There has always been an appetite for them amongst the wealthy who wish to protect the assets for example of a dynastic company or farming families or the stonkingly rich, but now a new faction has emerged.
That is of the middle-aged divorcee who wishes to protect the outcome of a first successful divorce from a second or third husband.
Similarly, once-bitten divorced husbands who have emerged from a divorce want to protect their assets.
Often, children of a first marriage will actively encourage their parents to obtain a prenup to avoid a concern that their future inheritance may disappear if their parents get divorced a second time.
It is common sense for this group to protect themselves by ensuring that the assets they have will not be plundered in a subsequent divorce.
Typically, they will confirm that what they already own is non-matrimonial and should not be considered in a divorce.
Many people also ask whether somewhat bizarre clauses that they have read about from the USA can be included.
We do not recognise clauses in the UK that ask that there should be a penalty for adultry to be included.
Similarly, a clause in American prenups suggesting a wife would lose half her settlement if she put on weight, known subsequently as the Weight Watcher clause, will not be allowed.
What will be allowed in a prenup is clauses in relation to pets. My firm invented the first pet-nuptial agreement on behalf of the Blue Cross charity so that clauses relating to who should keep the beloved pet and aspects relating to them can be upheld and are exceedingly popular.
The debate about whether to have a prenup or not will always continue but in the right place, they can be exceedingly helpful and avoid heartbreak for the future.
Lloyd Platt & Co are leading divorce solicitors in London and experts in family law and more: www.divorcesolicitors.com