PreNups are gaining in popularity and they’re straightforward to do. All you need is an experienced Family Law Solicitor.
Speak to Fiona Wilson, who can help you to create your own Pre-Nuptial Agreement.

5 Easy Steps – How to Create a PreNup

1.   Discuss the concept with your partner in advance and what you both think the parameters should be – so there is no misunderstanding later on. We anticipate most Pre-Nuptial Agreements take about 6-12 weeks to set-up, so think about them early on. The Pre-Nuptial Agreement must be signed by no later than 28 days before the wedding.

2.  Contact Head of Family Law, Fiona Wilson, at Lawson West Solicitors on 0116 212 1000 – the Family team will complete an over-the-phone conflict check to ensure we can act for you. Your initial chat is free of charge.

3.  If you would like to go ahead, we’ll set-up a meeting with one of Lawson West’s qualified Solicitors to discuss your PreNup Agreement needs in greater detail – it might be you’re recently engaged, or your marriage is in the planning stage. We would need you to bring to the appointment a schedule of yours and your fiancées income, outgoings, assets and liabilities. It would also be helpful to have considered future wealth or inheritance.

4. The Solicitor will ask many questions during the meeting, get to know you and understand your instructions. These appointments take about an hour. Afterward your interview, the solicitor will prepare the Pre-Nuptial Agreement, bespoke to you and your instructions.

5. The Pre-Nuptial Agreement will be drafted for you both to review, approve and to sign (and amended if necessary).  Your fiancée will also need to obtain independent legal advice on the drafting of the Agreement. 

Pre-Nuptial Agreement Fixed Fee is £2,750 + VAT (currently 20%) plus disbursement and expenses*

• Whilst it might sound a large sum for a single document, many hours of solicitor time will be spent creating and refining the bespoke Agreement with you over many weeks to ensure it meets your requests and expectations. It can save many thousands and prevent hostility, should the marriage come to an end.

• Pre-Nuptial Agreements tend to be about 20-25 pages long, but the document can be longer – especially if you own a business, have diverse investment interests, inheritances, or either of you own an overseas property.

• The Agreement sets out all aspects of your finances should the marriage be unsuccessful.  The Agreement will include what will happen to property, pensions, savings, income etc.  You can also add items, like ownership of pets, boats or cars. They can take time for the solicitor to draw-up as they are bespoke to each couple’s situation and the agreement covers all assets. If you do divorce, the agreement will be an important document for the Court to consider the split of assets as part of divorce proceedings.

Want to know more?

Entering a Pre or Post Nuptial Agreement (nuptial agreements) is not anticipating that a marriage is going to come to an end. Think of it as an insurance policy.

Nuptial Agreements are there to assist and guide should a marriage come to an end.  There are multiple advantages to entering such an agreement:

• Clarity. You can make it clear that assets are owned by one party only.
• Certainty. You can agree at the outset of your marriage how your finances will be divided.
• Transparency. You will provide financial disclosure of your assets and income in the pre-nuptial agreement, so you will both know at the outset of the marriage the value of each other’s assets, which will assist you in your negotiations.
• Will save money. While you will incur legal fees for preparing and advising on the terms of the pre-nuptial agreement, it is usually much less expensive to negotiate and draft a pre-nuptial agreement than to litigate through the courts.
• Protection of Assets. You  can protect assets you may wish to “ringfence” from one another, such as inherited assets, business assets.
• Improves Communication. Discussing financial issues can be one of the most difficult aspects of marriage. Dealing with this at the outset of the marriage can strengthen a relationship and support good communication in the marriage.
• Provision on Death. The pre-nuptial agreement can set out what you wish to happen to your assets on your death. This can support the provision contained in your will and clarify what should happen to certain assets. For example, the inheritance prospects of children and grandchildren can be protected in the agreement.
• Freedom to Agree Your Own Terms. You may have a creative plan for dividing your assets if you divorce. A pre-nuptial agreement provides you with the freedom to agree your own terms without the court imposing a solution on you.

If you wish to discuss the preparation of a Nuptial Agreement, please call Fiona Wilson on 0116 212 1000. Remember the initial chat is free of charge, so you can decide to go ahead at a later stage once you’ve had a opportunity to consider the discussion and speak to your fiancée.

Payment for the £2,750 + VAT will be taken at the beginning of the process as a lump sum, this can be paid for in full on a debit or credit card. 

[*within the fixed fee is the Anti-Money Laundering Search fee of £20.00 plus VAT].

Read More

‘Don’t wait until you want revenge’ – why prenups are on the rise – BBC News

Pre-Nuptial Agreements and Post-Nuptial Agreements

How to Protect Your Inheritance if You Divorce 

Call the Family Law Team on 0116 212 1000 or complete our Contact Form.

We’re here to help.

Lawson West Solicitors:  Family Law Drop-In Clinics

Drop-In to one of our free family law face-to-face clinic sessions held in Leicester or Market Harborough offices. You’ll meet a member of the Family Law Team who can answer your questions and help to resolve your relationship or family law issues. We’re keen to meet with you, listen and support with sensible next steps that you can trust.

                     

Find out more:    forthcoming dates, more information and How To Book click here

Of course, you don’t have to wait for a Drop-In Clinic to speak to us, call the Family Law Team on 0116 212 1000 or complete our Contact Form.

We’re here to help.

he practical difficulty arises if the spouse who owns the property, refuses to comply. The courts of the country where the property is situated may or may not recognise and enforce the English or Welsh Order. Enforcement often depends on local law and any reciprocal arrangements between that country and the UK.

In practice, judges frequently deal with this by:

• Ordering a spouse to sell the overseas property.
• Offsetting the value of the overseas property against UK assets. This would mean that the spouse who owns the overseas property keeps it, but the English assets are divided more in favour of the other spouse
• Making ancillary orders to encourage compliance. For example, the husband who owns the property overseas will not get the benefit of the share of the sale of the UK property, until he has complied with any orders associated with that overseas property.  

We will always try to negotiate the resolution of financial matters, without recourse to the courts.

The courts can be, have to be, fairly rigid in their approach to the resolution of financial matters. But negation can give the parties a wider variety of solutions.

I have recently negotiated, that the husband retains the overseas property. If he is to sell or transfer it, the proceeds are divided equally between he and his wife. But, until its sale, the wife had a significant number of weeks use of the villa, each year (to stop any potential issues, the order was specific in the dates the wife would use it, the costs of upkeep etc).

When faced with overseas property complexities, there are techniques to overcome obstacles, delivering communication and agreement without recourse to the Family courts.

How to Contact Our Solicitors – you can complete our Contact Form here, or you can call us on 0116 212 1000.

We’re here to help.