Postnuptial agreements and prenuptial agreements can be put in place to provide a couple with peace of mind. Such agreements can be a sensible, fair, and transparent way for a couple to organise and protect their finances and assets in the future.

What are Postnuptial agreements and prenuptial agreements?

A postnuptial agreement or prenuptial agreement is a legal contract between a couple that sets out the ownership of all of their money, property and other assets and how their wealth should be divided between them in the event that their marriage or civil partnership were to break down.

You can have a prenuptial agreement which is for couples planning to marry or enter into a civil partnership or a postnuptial agreement that is entered into during the marriage or civil partnership.

Such nuptial agreements are not just for the rich and famous. There any many reasons why it might be sensible for a couple to sign up to a nuptial agreement such as:

• To protect wealth, inheritance or future inheritance.
• To ensure that assets are reserved for children from a previous relationship
• To retain ownership of a business
• To ensure that any debt that is being brought into a marriage or civil partnership is not treated as a joint debt
• To ensure that any money gifted by the bank of “mum and dad” remains with the person whose family gifted the money
• To agree who keeps the family pet (sometimes called a “pet nuptial agreement”)