relationships are complicated, especially when the time comes to unravel them

To protect the future of a plastics company founded by his father 30 years ago, a son of the owner who was a manager and shareholder in the company, and his fiancée made a pre-nuptial agreement that would remove it from any dispute if they divorced. We drew up the agreement to make it clear the son was allowed to deal with the company without his wife’s consent and the business interests would not be in dispute if there was a marriage break up. Under the agreement, the wife would receive the family home and some other non-business assets if they divorced. By isolating the business from any potential matrimonial dispute, the company was protected from the risk of being wound up as part of a settlement.

We acted for a client going through a divorce who had put her career on hold to raise the children. The woman and man had barely spoken during negotiations due to the stress of reaching a financial and parenting settlement. We focused on what her priorities were in the dispute and gave her realistic expectations about outcomes, costs and options to resolve the issues so she didn’t lose sight of what mattered. We negotiated for her to receive what she considered a just financial settlement enabling her to get on with her life as well as parenting orders made by consent that were in the best interests of the children. By the end of the process the relationship between our client and her ex-husband was better than it had been for many years.

As people get together later in life and bring with them substantial assets of their own, there’s an increasing desire to enter pre-nuptial agreements. When couples have children from earlier relationships, there’s added pressure to protect each party’s assets. We drafted an agreement for two independently wealthy people that would see one side receive a $10 million settlement if they divorced. Both were happy to have the agreement as it provided certainty of what would happen if they divorced, and would ensure there was no litigation over their respective assets.