They may not be romantic, but prenuptial agreements cansavealot of heartache

You may not be Jay-z and Beyoncé, but be aware of the law on matrimonial assets, says Jenny Broatch

When Jay Z married Beyoncé, she signed a prenuptial agreement that gave her a cool $5 million for every child born in marriage and $1 million for every year married.

Essential, you’d think, for a power couple of their wealth. Yet, while prenuptial cases might seem a little too Hollywood – and not terribly romantic – they’re enforceable in Scotland and increasingly popular.

They may feel like a modern concept, but marriage contracts were common in Scotland from around the 14th century onwards, and spelled out the financial arrangements between the couple’s families. Enforceable by the courts, they typically helped to protect the wife’s property.

These days a Prenuptial or Cohabitation Agreement are legal contracts that set out how a couple would organise their affairs and divide their assets if the relationship were to end. People choose to ‘ring fence’ pre-relationship assets – often that includes a business.

Yet for many business owners and executives, normally astute in making realistic projections for the years ahead, contingency planning in the context of personal relationships isn’t always standard.

Take a fairly recent and very complicated case involving a Scottish food sales business set up by the husband pre-marriage. The relationship broke down and his business was brought into the split of assets on their subsequent separation. It was argued to be matrimonial property – the husband