Increased Use of Premarital Agreements in England

We have recently covered (here and here) the preference in English law for equal property division between divorcing spouses.  Of course, one way to avoid statutory and legislative defaults is through contract, in the form of premarital agreements.  At the present time, however, such agreements are not legally enforceable in England, although they may certainly guide the courts in their ultimate decisions.  The unenforceability of premarital agreements may help explain the traditional rarity of such agreements between prospective spouses in England.  However, one of our readers recently pointed out that the English Law Commission is re-examining marital property agreements, with a report and draft Bill expected in late 2012.  There has been another development as well: English family lawyers are now seeing a tenfold increase of the use of such agreements. 

Will a Tiffany’s one-carat diamond soon come standard with a premarital agreement in England?

                                                                                 
MR