Should I Ask My Fiancé To Sign a Prenup Agreement?

Posted onJune 7, 2021

Should I ask my fiancé to sign a prenup agreement? To London divorce solicitors that isn’t a tricky question. The answer is yes. That’s because divorce lawyers tend to deal with family law disputes where a husband and wife can't agree on who should get what in their divorce settlement, leading to potentially expensive court proceedings. A prenup agreement can help avoid that.

London prenup solicitors

For advice on a prenup agreement call the London prenup agreement solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form . We will set up a skype, video conference or telephone appointment for you with one of our friendly family lawsolicitors.

When should I ask my fiancé to sign a prenup agreement?

If the answer from a divorce solicitor is that yes you should get your fiancé to sign a prenup agreement, the next question is when should you sign the document ?

When it comes to the timing of signing a prenup agreement most prenup solicitors recommend that the agreement is signed at least twenty-one days before the wedding or civil partnership ceremony. That isn’t always possible so if you are running out of time before your wedding ask a prenup solicitor what your best options are. For example, you could decide to sign a post nup agreement but once you are married or in a civil partnership will your spouse or civil partner still be happy to sign the document?

Why is signing a prenup agreement a good idea?

A prenup agreement sets out how your assets will be shared if you split up from your husband, wife or civil partner. You may think you don’t need a prenup agreement as you don’t own much but a prenup agreement is normally designed to protect you by recording how you will divide your assets, whether you are together five months, five years or twenty-five years. A carefully worded prenup can cover these scenarios and others, such as whether you have children or one of you stays at home as the home-maker. If your personal or financial circumstances change significantly, so the terms of the original prenup agreement are no longer fair to both of you, then you can sign a postnup (or after marriage agreement) with your husband or wife.

Prenup solicitors say that there are many reasons why a prenup agreement is a particularly good idea. These reasons may apply to you or to your fiancé or to both of you. The reasons include:

You have been married before and have children from a previous marriage. You want to protect your children in case of a separation.
You have been living with your fiancé and have a cohabitation agreement and want the same sort of protection.
You already own a house.
You own shares in a family business.
Your family are wealthy and you know that you may receive large life time gifts or a big inheritance.
You are a beneficiary under a discretionary trust.
You have significant pre-marriage accrued pension or investments.
You have been married before and gone through a bitter divorce court settlement and , if you separate, you don’t want to spend a lot in legal fees in going to court.
You or your fiancé may be from overseas and you want the prenup agreement to say what court jurisdiction will hear any divorce proceedings or financial settlement claims.

There are many other reasons why a prenup agreement may be a good idea but for a prenup agreement to carry weight with the divorce court the terms of the prenup agreement have to be considered fair and to meet reasonable needs at the time that any court looks at the terms of the prenup agreement. That’s why it is best to get specialist legal advice on what should be included in your prenup agreement.

How should I ask my fiancé to sign a prenup agreement?

A prenup solicitor can't tell you the best way to broach the subject of signing a prenup agreement with your fiancé but its undoubtedly best not to leave things to the last minute, when your fiancé will be focussing on the wedding and , for example, stressing about the seating arrangements.

Asking a fiancé to sign a prenup agreement should not be seen as a negative thing to do or cast doubt in anyone’s minds about your strength of feelings toward your fiancé or your commitment to the marriage or civil partnership. Asking a fiancé to sign a prenup agreement doesn’t mean that you think that you are going to split up or that your fiancé is a gold digger.

Signing a prenup agreement should be presented as a positive step for both of you. Often a prenup agreement forms part of your relationship and life planning. For example, as part of your wedding financial planning you are (or should be) thinking about:

Writing a Will or , if you already have one, making a new one in contemplation of your marriage or civil partnership.
Checking your pension nominations to make sure they are up to date.
Preparing a power of attorney or, if you already have one and your fiancé isn’t named as an attorney, consider naming them as an attorney.
Looking at your life insurance or your critical health insurance and seeing if your level of cover will be sufficient for your new circumstances.
Whether your fiancé can be added to your private health cover because if your employer offers private health insurance the company scheme may cover a fiancé, spouse or civil partner at no or very modest cost to you.
Looking at your money management and whether you intend to open a joint bank account or buy a property together.
Family members gifting you money, for example, to provide a deposit so you can buy a house to live in after your marriage or so you can upsize to buy a family home. Your family or your fiancé’s family may only be comfortable in making lifetime gifts as part of their estate planning if there is a prenup agreement in place.

A discussion about a prenup is only the same as many of the other financial matters that need to be discussed by couples. A relationship where you are both confident in talking about such matters is a strong relationship.

London prenup solicitors

For advice on your prenup agreement call the London prenup agreement solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or complete our online enquiry form for a skype, video conference or telephone appointment with a family law solicitor.