The law surrounding prenuptial agreements can be complex, and although such contracts are not binding on the court, a party cannot explicitly remove its jurisdiction, either. Despite this, where a prenuptial agreement was entered into, the court must give appropriate weight to its contents. But what if circumstances have changed since it was created? Can a prenuptial agreement be modified? Can it be renegotiated? This article provides answers.
The law surrounding prenuptial agreements can be complex, and although such contracts are not binding on the court, a party cannot explicitly remove its jurisdiction, either. Despite this, where a prenuptial agreement was entered into, the court must give appropriate weight to its contents. But what if circumstances have changed since it was created? Can a prenuptial agreement be modified? Can it be renegotiated? This article provides answers.
If you have a prenuptal agreement and you require legal advice to understand your options, contact specialist family law solicitor Joanne Major. Joanne is the founder of her specialist family law firm and has spent her 25-year legal career specialising in family and matrimonial cases.
How long does a prenuptial agreement last?
Because a prenuptial agreement is a contract, its duration can be included in its terms. It is also possible to include clauses which set a specific date after which it will no longer be valid. For example, a couple could agree that the prenuptial agreement only remains in force for the first 10 years of the marriage.
If a prenuptial agreement does not specify an end date, it will remain in force permanently and indefinitely, unless both parties revoke or modify it at a later date.
What if I am no longer happy with my prenuptial agreement?
No one can predict at the outset of a marriage the curve balls life can throw. Sometimes a prenuptial agreement created many years ago may no longer be relevant or one you are content with. If you find yourself in this situation, it is useful to know that you have options.
Can I make changes to my prenuptial agreement?
It is important to regularly update and review a prenuptial agreement at least every five years. The more accurately it reflects the current situation, the better for any subsequent divorce proceedings.
It is extremely rare for prenuptial agreements to be renegotiated post separation and depends on what is being sought, how old the agreement is, and whether the circumstances have changed. This is why it is essential to keep a prenuptial agreement up to date. If you cannot agree with your spouse that the agreement should be renegotiated, then you will need to get the court involved.
What are the circumstances that a prenuptial agreement can be modified?
In the 2017 case of Radmacher, it was found that if the ‘prevailing circumstances’ of the parties had changed since the prenuptial agreement was entered into, then it would not be fair to hold the parties to that agreement.
Over the years, relationships and circumstances naturally evolve and change to such a degree, which was probably not envisioned at the time the agreement was created. Generally, then, the longer the marriage, the more this should be taken into account when determining whether the agreement is capable of modification or renegotiation.
Although the agreement may have been fair when it was entered into because of the passage of time and changes in circumstances, it may no longer be considered such. These changes can include, but are not limited to:
- Loss of employment
- Significant pay rise or windfall
- Change in financial circumstances
- Loss of value in a business or asset
- Bankruptcy
- Birth of children
- Changes to health or incapacity due to illness or disability
- Relocation to a foreign country
- Other notable changes to needs
Can I include a review/modification clause in the prenuptial agreement?
A prenuptial agreement can be reviewed or modified at any time without including such a clause during the marriage providing the parties are in agreement and all the legal formalities are met. Formalities include both parties obtaining independent legal advice, understanding the legal implications of the change, an absence of coercion, and full and frank financial disclosure with no evidence of fraud or hiding assets.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t include a review/modification clause and having one does at least mean a date to look at your circumstances again is set that can address any changes. Review clauses can be particularly important for young couples who potentially have many life changes ahead of them. Regularly reviewing or modifying prenuptial agreements may avoid problematic issues arising on divorce, but doing so can also keep such arrangements fair as lives evolve over the years.
Does my prenuptial agreement need modifying if my spouse moves abroad?
Things can become complicated when one or both parties leaves the UK and permanently relocate abroad. This is because there are no guarantees that an international court will uphold the terms and conditions of a British prenuptial agreement. In addition, there is no ‘global’ prenup recognised internationally. If either of you are thinking about moving overseas, you should seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity. The same applies to foreign couples relocating to the UK, because agreements arranged abroad may not be enforceable or recognised in the UK.
Can my spouse challenge a prenuptial agreement if we break up?
Prenuptial agreements are not automatically enforced by the court, but they influence its decision about a financial settlement if you divorce. Particular areas of challenge include:
- The agreement not being made in a reasonable time before the marriage or civil partnership. This is generally considered to be at least 28 days. If it was entered into immediately before the wedding, the court will be concerned that pressure may have been applied by one party to agree to its terms.
- The absence of coercion, pressure, or duress from one party on the other
- Each party being given the opportunity to obtain independent legal advice on the terms
- Full and frank disclosure of both parties financial position
- The terms of the agreement being fair (although this concept is not defined by legislation)
Can I apply to the court to disregard my prenuptial agreement?
The only way this can be achieved is by agreement with the other party or by applying to the court for it to consider your finances as part of the divorce process. The court will look at whether the prenuptial agreement should be binding and consider the terms of the agreement as well as the circumstances when it was created. If upholding the agreement is deemed unfair because of unforeseen changes in family life since it was entered into, you may be able to challenge its enforceability. If the court finds that the agreement should be upheld, then it will make financial orders appropriate to the prenuptial agreement, the family’s finances, circumstances, and needs.
New information can change the basis of an agreement
A request to revisit a prenuptial agreement does not always arise because life has moved on in an obvious way; sometimes the trigger is the discovery that the financial picture presented during the original negotiations was incomplete or incorrect in some way. For example, a spouse may learn about an investment account, a valuable shareholding, an overseas property, a trust interest, or a business asset that was not included within the original disclosure. On the other hand, an asset may have been listed but given a value which now appears at odds with information available at the time.
That discovery can be unsettling, but does not automatically mean that every term falls away, nor does it give either spouse a right to rewrite the entire document. It does, however, create a real reason for the agreement and the circumstances in which it was signed to be reviewed.
What to do if an asset was withheld
The first step is to preserve the evidence that led to the concern and obtain advice before making any direct allegations. Relevant documents could include the signed agreement and every schedule attached to it, earlier drafts, correspondence between the solicitors, valuation reports, company records, and how the new asset came to light. The aim is to establish what information was requested, what was supplied, what representations were made, and whether the other person’s legal adviser was also working from an inaccurate picture.
It is sensible to separate a genuine concern from suspicion based on an isolated document. If the concern appears well founded, the spouse who received incomplete disclosure can ask for corrected and updated financial information. Both parties should use their own solicitors; one adviser cannot independently protect two clients whose interests may now differ.
Non-disclosure does not produce one automatic result
The approach established by the Supreme Court in Radmacher v Granatino is that effect should generally be given to a nuptial agreement which each party entered into freely, with a full appreciation of its implications, unless it would be unfair to hold them to it in the circumstances prevailing at the time of divorce. The quality of the information available when the agreement was made is therefore highly relevant, but the court looks at substance rather than treating every defect as automatically fatal to the validity of the agreement.
In the case of Helliwell v Entwistle, decided by the Court of Appeal in 2025, the wife’s disclosure in the prenuptial agreement substantially understated her wealth. The Court of Appeal treated the deliberate non-disclosure as capable of amounting to fraud and made clear that the same basic approach to non-disclosure applies across different kinds of family agreements.
There can be cases in which a person knew that their future spouse was extremely wealthy and agreed that each would retain separate property regardless of its precise value. A missing figure will not necessarily have influenced that decision. In another case, the protection offered to the financially weaker spouse may have been negotiated by reference to an express comparison between the parties’ resources.
Intent also matters, although it is not the only consideration. An asset may have been overlooked, misunderstood, or valued on information which later proved unreliable. That may still justify correction and reconsideration, particularly if the mistake was fundamental. Deliberate concealment, a false statement, or the suppression of information requested during negotiations is more serious. It may reduce or remove the weight otherwise given to the agreement and can affect how a court views that person’s evidence and conduct.
Renegotiation during the marriage
Where both spouses want to restore certainty, they can negotiate a postnuptial agreement which updates, supplements or replaces the original prenup. The new document should say clearly what happens to the earlier agreement; leaving two legal documents in existence without explaining which provisions survive can create a later dispute.
The process is just as important as the wording, and each spouse should give fresh, accurate financial disclosure and obtain independent legal advice. There should be adequate time to consider the proposals, exchange questions, and obtain valuations where needed. Pressure can arise during a marriage as well as before a wedding, particularly if one spouse controls the home, income, or access to legal funds. A document signed to avoid an immediate threat of eviction, abandonment or financial withdrawal may later attract close scrutiny by the court.
A revised agreement can do more than insert a newly discovered asset into a schedule, and the parties should consider whether the omission affected the calculation used for capital provision, housing, maintenance, or the treatment of an increase in value. If the undisclosed asset generated income throughout the marriage, that income may have supported the family or enabled other wealth to accumulate. Merely correcting the original number may not address those wider consequences.
When only one person wants to change the terms
One spouse cannot force the other to execute a replacement pre or postnuptial agreement. If agreement cannot be reached, the original document does not disappear simply because its fairness or factual basis is disputed. It remains part of the history and may be placed before the court if financial remedy proceedings follow. The parties can record their respective positions in correspondence and attempt mediation or solicitor-led negotiation, but the final question on divorce is what financial orders are fair according to the court.
A refusal to renegotiate is not necessarily proof that the original agreement will be upheld, just as willingness to discuss an amendment is not an admission that it is defective. Where one spouse has discovered serious non-disclosure, advice should cover both the prospects of agreeing corrective terms and the evidence needed if the issue must eventually be determined by a judge.
Discovering an undisclosed asset does not always bring the agreement to an end, but it should never be treated as a minor administrative problem needing no further investigation. The safest course is to establish the facts, obtain fresh disclosure and independent advice, and decide whether a properly negotiated postnuptial agreement can restore trust. If that is not possible, the evidence surrounding the original negotiations may become central to the financial outcome on divorce.
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