Get a UK Prenup and Protect Your Global Assets

Here's something you might not know: moving to the UK could put you into some financial danger that you're not prepared for.

Every year, large numbers of people come from abroad to live and get married in the UK without thinking about what they are forfeiting. You may not, for example, be aware of the fact that courts may likely not to take into account your global assets should your relationship hit the rocks and end in divorce.

So therefore having property and assets outside of the UK, which you could view as being a safety net for your future, are therefore very much at risk.

They are likely instead to be divided on a 50-50 basis between you and your ex-spouse. In fact, a UK court is likely to ignore how the law of the country where any overseas assets are held would treat them. You could then have to sell your overseas assets, regardless of your wishes and those of your family members in your home country.

The good news is that there is an answer. The only way you can seek to tackle this apparent anomaly is to enter into a UK Prenuptial Agreement (or Prenup) that reflects your expectations before you commit yourself to a marriage.

No two situations are ever the same. Therefore a Prenuptial Agreement needs to be individually drawn up to be tailored to the personal circumstances of each couple.

The best thing to do if you are thinking about a UK Prenuptial Agreement is to take advice from a specialist Solicitor and ask them to draw up your contract. It is entirely possible to buy a very general do-it-yourself Prenuptial Agreement but there are several reasons why this is not recommended.  There are many legal issues that should be properly addressed and United Kingdom courts are unlikely to be very sympathetic should you get things wrong. In fact, you could still end up handing over 50 percent of all your property, as well as a large amount of your earnings for the rest of your life - an extremely high price, if you consider that a decently drawn up UK Prenup will cost you only a small fraction of that.

Also remember that courts will not allow for the financial and economic circumstances in which judgements are made, so the current financial downturn could mean that you bitterly regret not getting a proper Prenup drafted. 

Currently prenuptial agreements are not legally enforceable in England and Wales but they do carry increasing legal weight in divorce cases - a trend that recent court rulings suggest is likely to continue.

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