More say ‘I do’ to post-nup to secure their inheritance
COUPLES are demanding post-nuptial agreements as they seek to hang on to their inheritance should they end up getting divorced.
A growing number in their late 40s, 50s and 60s have inherited money from their parents or expect to do so, and want to keep it separate from their partner, says Osbornes Law.
Like the better known pre-nuptial agreement, a post-nup sets out a couple’s financial arrangements should the marriage collapse.
Couples with elderly parents are using them to protect a potential inheritance or gifts, said family law partner Joanne Wescott: “Though happily married, both feel the inheritance should not be split equally if they divorce. Significant sums are usually at stake.”
While inherited wealth is not automatically treated as a matrimonial asset to be split 50/50, a post-nup gives couples more certainty about how it will be treated by the courts. Wescott said: “Ultimately the courts still decide but will generally take account of a post-nup.”
While many people use an inheritance to pay off a joint mortgage on the family home or buy an investment property, they do not want to lose that if they separate later.
Wescott said a post-nup can bring peace of mind: “While it may be a difficult conversation to have with your other half, my experience is that couples tend to be in agreement about inheritances and gifts from family, especially if it goes on to benefit children of the marriage.”
Courts will only take account of a post-nup agreement if each spouse entered into it freely, understood what it involved, made full financial disclosure and took independent legal advice, she added.