International Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

What Makes a Nuptial Agreement International

A prenuptial agreement records, before the wedding, how money and property should be dealt with if the marriage ends; a postnuptial agreement does the same after it. Our prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements pages cover the domestic law. This page is about the extra layer when the couple, their assets or their future lives are connected with another country:

• one of you is a national of, or domiciled in, another country
• you married, or will marry, abroad
• one of you owns property or a business overseas, or expects an inheritance there
• you have signed a marriage contract, marital property agreement or notarial deed under another country's law
• you may move abroad, or return here after living abroad

Many legal systems treat a marriage contract as binding, as German law did in Radmacher v Granatino and Swedish law did in Versteegh v Versteegh. England and Wales works differently: whatever the agreement says, the court decides financial claims under section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, having regard to all the circumstances with first consideration to the welfare of any child of the family under 18, and the agreement is one of those circumstances.

Which court hears the divorce is a separate question, decided by section 5 of the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973: see international divorce and jurisdiction and forum disputes. Civil partners have their own page on pre-civil partnership agreements.

How a Court Here Treats a Foreign Agreement

The Supreme Court in Radmacher v Granatino held that a couple cannot, by agreement, oust the jurisdiction of the court, and that the court should give effect to a nuptial agreement that is freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications unless in the circumstances prevailing it would not be fair to hold the parties to their agreement. The test is the same wherever the agreement was made.

The foreign law matters less than clients expect. When the court here makes a financial order under the 1973 Act it will normally apply English law, irrespective of the domicile of the parties or any foreign connection. The Radmacher agreement chose German law, yet the issues were held to be governed exclusively by English law: the German choice of law mattered only as evidence that the couple intended the agreement to bind them.

What carries weight is whether you both understood what you were signing. Legal advice is desirable and disclosure may be necessary, but where a party was clearly aware of the implications the agreement need not carry reduced weight. In Versteegh v Versteegh the Court of Appeal gave weight to a Swedish marital property agreement signed without advice or disclosure: such agreements are commonplace and binding in Sweden, the wife understood its standard form, and a couple marrying abroad need not take advice on English law just in case they later move here.

Fairness is judged when the marriage ends. An agreement that would leave one of you in real need while the other has a sufficiency or more is likely to be unfair, as is one that lets a partner keep everything they earned while the other looked after the home and family, and no agreement can prejudice the reasonable requirements of any children. Where each of you can meet your own needs, the court is most likely to order what the agreement says on sharing. In Brack v Brack, another Swedish couple, the Court of Appeal confirmed that even an effective agreement leaves the court to weigh every section 25 factor and may, unusually, lead it to order more than needs.

Disclosure, Translations and Common Problems

The problems we see most often with agreements signed abroad:

• no schedule of assets, because the foreign law imposes no duty of disclosure: in Radmacher the couple waived a schedule despite the notary's advice
• the agreement is in another language and there is no certified translation
• one of you signed without independent advice, or a single notary acted for both
• the agreement chooses a property regime or a foreign law but is silent on maintenance, pensions or children, which a court here will still decide
• a second document signed in another country contradicts the first
• the agreement was signed in the days before the wedding

None of these is fatal on its own, but each gives the other side an argument, and together they can strip an agreement of the weight you were counting on.

No treaty makes a foreign marriage contract automatically effective here: the United Kingdom is not a party to the 1978 Hague Convention on the law applicable to matrimonial property regimes, which has three contracting states. The notary in Radmacher warned the couple that the law of the country where they lived might govern their relationship and recommended advice from a lawyer there. The same applies in reverse: an English agreement should be checked in any country where you own property or may live.

How We Prepare an International Agreement

1. Free consultation. You tell us where you both come from, where you live and own property, and what the agreement should protect.
2. Mapping the countries. We identify each legal system that could deal with your finances and, where needed, obtain advice from a lawyer or notary there on its formal requirements.
3. Disclosure. Both of you set out assets, income, pensions and debts in every country, with valuations and translations where needed.
4. Terms. We agree what stays separate, what is shared, how a home in each country is treated, and how needs, maintenance and children are provided for.
5. Your partner's advice. Your partner instructs their own solicitor here and, where the agreement will also be signed abroad, an adviser there. We act for one of you only.
6. Signing. The agreement is executed as a deed well before the wedding, both solicitors confirm their advice in writing, and any foreign counterpart is signed in the form that country requires and worded so the two do not conflict.
7. Review. A move between countries, a child, an inheritance or a business sale is the moment to replace it with a postnuptial agreement.

Aim to sign at least 28 days before the ceremony. That is not yet law, but the Law Commission recommended it in 2014 and the Government proposed the same in June 2026, and it weakens any later argument that you signed under pressure.

Agreements and Claims after a Divorce Abroad

If your marriage ends abroad, the foreign court may apply the agreement as a contract. Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 allows either party to a marriage dissolved abroad, where the divorce is entitled to recognition in England and Wales, to apply here for financial relief. Leave is needed first and must not be granted unless the court considers there is substantial ground for the application, and the court must dismiss it unless satisfied that an order by a court in England and Wales would be appropriate.

The agreement is one of the matters that decision turns on. The court must consider any financial benefit received, or likely to be received, by virtue of any agreement or the operation of the law of a country outside England and Wales, alongside each party's connection with England and Wales and with the other country, any foreign order and the time since the divorce. If it proceeds, the section 25 factors apply. The application carries a court fee, listed on the GOV.UK court and tribunal fees page. Our financial claims after an overseas divorce page covers Part III in full and recognition of an overseas divorce explains the first condition.

When Legal Advice Is Especially Important

Advice matters most where:

• you have been handed a marriage contract or notarial deed to sign abroad, in a language you do not read, before a fixed wedding date
• you signed an agreement abroad years ago, have since moved to England and Wales, and one of you is now thinking about divorce
• your assets include property, a business or family wealth in a country whose courts might deal with them
• either of you could start proceedings in more than one country
• you were divorced abroad, the agreement was applied there, and a Part III application here is in prospect

A weak agreement is far easier to strengthen before the wedding than to defend afterwards. If you feel pressured to sign, say so before you do; where there is abuse or control in the relationship, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is on 0808 2000 247, and 999 is for immediate danger.

How RakLAW Solicitors Can Help

We draft and review international prenuptial and postnuptial agreements at 42 Shad Thames in Southwark, a short walk from Tower Bridge, as part of our international family law work. Rakesh Prajapati founded the firm, and family, financial and immigration advice sit under one roof, so the jurisdiction, the assets in each country and any permission to stay are considered together. The firm is privately funded and does not offer legal aid.

If you already have an agreement, we review an existing agreement and say plainly what weight it is likely to carry. If the marriage has ended, we advise on its place in a financial settlement, a divorce with overseas assets or a Part III claim, and record any agreed outcome in a consent order. Our family law fees page explains how we charge. The first 15 minutes are free: call 0203 345 2000 or book an appointment.