Cheshire Weddings: Signing a Pre-Nup Is As Strong A Statement Of Loyalty As Wedding Vows

Fast-buck marriages to Cheshire’s rich and famous are on the way down as pre-nuptial agreements start to gain more favour with the courts.

Family lawyers at Cheshire’s biggest law firm, SAS Daniels LLP – which serves one of the most affluent regions of the country – say they are receiving more enquiries about pre-nups than ever before, but are also seeing more high-end wedding plans cancelled when one side or the other declines to sign the pre-nuptial agreement.

“Perhaps controversially, in some quarters jointly signing a pre-nuptial agreement is now seen as being as strong a statement of loyalty as the wedding vows,” said Liz Bottrill of SAS Daniels LLP which has offices in Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester, Congleton, and Bramhall.

“It’s a sign of the times; the authorities and judiciary are becoming ever more aware of rip-off Britain – and marrying a footballer, celebrity or successful entrepreneur, living the life for a couple of years and then filing for divorce and becoming instantly rich is becoming ever-more unacceptable.

“But these agreements are now highly relevant across the demographic scale: ‘normal’ middle-class couples can amass valuable assets which also have to be carved up – homes worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, for instance.

“A pre-nuptial agreement wasn’t legally enforceable in England or Wales until late, but a precedent was recently set, and, as a consequence, more are being upheld in court.

“There is a feeling among the judiciary that perhaps the rich ex-WAGS era has to be brought to an end, and that a few years of marriage does not earn half a multi-million pound fortune in settlement from the former other half.

“Divorcing a rich footballer used to be a game of two equal halves – but precedents are ruling that sort of result offside.

“Perhaps controversially, jointly signing a pre-nuptial agreement is now seen as being almost as strong a statement of loyalty as the wedding vows.”