Sarah Jane Lenihan & Laura Couves examine a recent High Court ruling which has reinforced the legal landscape of pre-nuptial agreements in England & Wales
- Parties should continue to seek independent legal advice when negotiating pre-nuptial agreements to ensure they are freely entered into with full appreciation of their implications.
- An agreement is likely to be upheld, provided there is nothing which means it should be varied or amended on the premise of fairness.
Mr Justice Moor in M v A [2023] EWHC 613 (Fam), [2023] All ER (D) 14 (Apr) has reinforced the legal status of pre-nuptial agreements in what was, arguably, the biggest challenge to the concept since 2010, where the Supreme Court set out the principles governing the agreements in the case of Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42, [2010] All ER (D) 186 (Oct). Radmacher established that such agreements should be upheld save for when they are unfair, either by virtue of how they were created, or the effect that they would have, if enforced.
In M v A,
