Family Law Solicitors, Divorce and children’s Specialists, Major Family Law, Newcastle blog that divorce lawyers are reporting a major increase in the interest in pre-nuptial agreements amid signs that these could soon be legally binding in England and Wales. The agreements enable couples to decide in advance how their financial affairs and assets should be dealt with if the relationship breaks down.

The rise in interest follows a landmark report from the Law Commission, the Government’s adviser on legal reform, recommending the introduction of a form of marital agreement in a wider overhaul of the divorce system.

Lawyers say the move could help take some of the acrimony out of marital breakdown but others, including church leaders, warn that encouraging couples to plan for divorce before they are even married could harm relationships.

A move towards recognising these pre-nups or post-nups – similar agreements for those who are already married – in England and Wales has been under way since the landmark Supreme Court case of the German heiress Katrin Radmacher in 2010.