Spears quotes Sarah Jane Boon and Karen Watson on attitudes towards prenups and the Law Commission review of financial remedy law

The general consensus is that prenups are on the rise, Co-op Legal Services reported in November 2023 that the number of clients requesting a prenup has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Sarah Jane Boon, Family Partner, shares her experience and insights with Spears Magazine:

"I’ve been a family lawyer for 15 years and I do more and more prenuptial agreements every year."

Sarah observes that a generational shift in attitudes is a key driver of the rise of prenups in the UK and explains that younger clients take a more ‘businesslike’ approach to marriage than older generations and are therefore more likely to embrace prenups.

"I think it is probably going to be the case that younger generations want to plan for things that perhaps older generations haven’t. That’s just a different shift in mindset.

"From professional experience, I find younger clients more businesslike about the whole idea of having a prenuptial agreement, whichever side they’re on, whereas older people feel a bit more agonised about the emotional side of it. They’re more likely to see it as a judgement in some way, or fear the other person is going to feel that."

Karen Watson, Knowledge Development Lawyer for the Family team, also provides comment for Spears on the impact of the Law Commission review examining the 50-year-old laws on financing after divorce and the ending of a civil partnership. 

A report is expected this year and the outcome could have a significant impact on the position of prenuptial agreements within UK family law. 

Karen comments:

"We expect the Law Commission to recommend some reforms that make the system a little bit more certain; it’s a very discretionary operation at the moment. 

"That might mean prenups become, not necessarily contractually binding in the same way that a commercial contract is but they are clearer as to what is going to happen. I think that would play into a rise in prenups."

Read the full article in Spears here.