Is a co-habitation agreement / pre-nuptial agreement legally binding?
This depends on both the nature and the subject matter of the agreement involved. If the agreement deals with financial matters the court may be unlikely to interfere, whereas if it relates to children it’s likely to be viewed as no more than an expression of wish. A co-habitation agreement entered into freely by both parties who have had the benefit of legal advice, after a full and frank exchange of relevant financial information and in the absence of duress, will generally be enforced by the court. A pre-nuptial agreement considered by the family courts within subsequent divorce proceedings will be more vulnerable to overturning. Whilst the trend these days is for an increased use of pre-nuptial agreements and for the courts to place greater weight on their terms than previously, such agreements remain only one of many factors the divorce courts are obliged to consider. The existence of a pre-nuptial agreement cannot stop the court’s jurisdiction to determine any financial applicati
