Legal Agreements

Separation Agreements

Whether or not you are married, if your relationship ends and you are able to reach an amicable agreement about your financial affairs, you can enter into a written agreement which deals with arrangements for your finances, your property and your children. You may not be ready to get divorced so such an agreement sets out clearly what you have agreed and if you are not married, the advantage to drawing up such an agreement is to make it clear what your arrangements are

Pre/Post-Nuptial Agreements

Until fairly recently, these were more of an American thing, entered into by celebrities to protect their assets. Now, English courts are starting to recognise such agreements provided certain formalities are followed when they are drawn up. The purpose of such an agreement is that it sets out what will happen to your money or property in the event of the marriage ending. These agreements are a good idea if one person has substantially more money than the other and wishes to protect that money in the event of divorce. They are also a good idea where you are entering into a second marriage and may have children from a previous marriage. You may wish to ensure that any money or property you took into your second marriage is protected for your children rather than going into the “matrimonial pot” for division in the event of divorce. There are strict rules as to whether such an agreement is likely to be upheld by a court and I can assist in drafting an agreement to comply with those rules.

Post-nuptial Agreements – these are like pre-nuptial agreements but are entered into after the marriage, rather than before

Cohabitation Agreements

Living together (or cohabitation) Agreements – it is a good idea for couples who are considering moving in together to enter into such an agreement which can regulate how you deal with your finances during the time you live together and what will happen financially if the relationship ends. The agreement can set out who owns what property and in what proportion, at the beginning of the relationship; how you will organise finances such as how bills will be paid and how you will split your property if the relationship ends. This can avoid a lot of stress and expense if you do split up because family law does not apply to unmarried couples so there is no assistance from the family court. It is very difficult to make any sort of claim against property if you are not married – a complex area of law which I can assist with if required