Richard Hogwood, Partner in the family team at City law firm Speechly Bircham, comments on the publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper on pre-nuptial agreements
Richard Hogwood, Partner in the family team at City law firm Speechly Bircham, comments on the publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper on pre-nuptial agreements:
“At this stage the consultation paper puts forward more questions than answers. The Law Commission has clearly picked up on a groundswell of support for pre-nups and post-nups.
“Reforms in this area are long overdue, and regardless of the ultimate scale of reforms, the results of the consultation will have far-reaching implications for family law across the UK.
“The Commission may have opened a Pandora’s box by raising the idea of reviewing the entire legal basis for financial awards on divorce. If the size of this initial paper is anything to go by, one can only imagine how substantial and complex a review of financial awards would be.
“Pre-nups and post-nups are clearly here to stay and, after Radmacher, are only likely to become more popular. The big question raised and considered by the Law Commission, though, is whether they should remain a creature of case law or instead be given a firm statutory footing. If the latter, the thorny next question is how?”