The midlands-based law firm claimed a bill recommended by the Law Commission last month would “bring clarity for couples seeking divorce and help to eradicate what has become a postcode lottery”.
If passed, the legislation will allow couples to agree the terms of divorce before they marry and make pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements legally enforceable in the UK for the first time.
In particular the draft legislation will make it easier for those in second marriages to ring-fence assets attained earlier in life and bequeath them to children from their previous marriage.
Christine Patterson, partner and divorce law specialist at Shakespeares, said: “Making pre-nups and post-nups legally enforceable is an important step.
“At the moment, the judicial approach taken in divorce proceedings in the UK is too loose and can vary significantly in different parts of the country. Courts in the North of England and in Scotland, for example, are far less likely to view claims for large life-long maintenance payments as favourably as those in the Midlands and the South of England.”
Corinne Parke, co-founder of London-based Finance4Divorce, said: “The proposal that pre-nuptial agreements will be legally enforceable will bring a huge amount of clarity to an area of the law which has been riddled by uncertainty.
“It will provide parties with the ability to secure pre-acquired assets for the benefit of other dependants and recognise their specific contribution to the matrimonial pot.”
