Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon
Pre-nups can "short circuit" ancillary relief proceedings
Tuesday, 08 January 2008
The Times has reported on a recent Court of Appeal decision backing the High Court's decision to "short circuit" divorce proceedings where there was a short, childless marriage and both parties had independent wealth.
The appeal was brought by Susan Crossley, who was arguing that Mr Justice Bennet's decision to prevent her giving evidence about undisclosed assets meant that she could not pursue her claim that, as she did not know about the assets when she signed the agreement, the agreement should be invalid
Upholding Bennet J's ruling, Lord Justice Thorpe stated that
"This
is a quite exceptional case on its facts. If ever there is to be a
paradigm case in which the courts will look to the prenuptial agreement
as not simply one of the peripheral factors of the case but a factor of
magnetic importance, then it seems to me that this is such a case.
More on this story can be found on The Times website via this link - http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article3075995.ece
