London - A German heiress Thursday won a major legal case
over the validity of pre-nuptial agreements that could pave the way
for such contracts becoming legally binding in Britain.
Katrin Radmacher, 39, won a ruling from the Court of Appeal in
Britain which overturned an earlier court decision awarding her
French ex-husband 5.8 million pounds (9.4 million dollars) of her
estimated fortune of 100 million pounds.
Frenchman Nicolas Granatino, a student at the time the agreement
was struck, had pledged not to make a claim if the couple divorced.
Such contracts are enforceable in Germany, where the couple's was
signed, but not in Britain, where they married.
Following the ruling, it is expected that such contracts, which in
the past had been 'taken into account' by the courts, will gain
greater legal weight.
Appeal judge Mathew Alexander Thorpe said he believed it had
become 'increasingly unrealistic' for courts to disregard pre-nuptial
agreements. 'It reflects the laws and morals of earlier generations,'
he said.
'It does not sufficiently recognize the rights of autonomous
adults to govern their future financial relationship by agreement in
an age when marriage is not generally regarded as a sacrament and
divorce is a statistical commonplace.'
The Frenchman was expected to seek permission to take the case to
the House of Lords, the highest British appeal court.
But Radmacher said she was delighted by the decision.
'Ultimately, this case has been about what I regard as a broken
promise,' she said.
'From today grown ups can agree in the best of times what will
happen in the worst of times,' she added.
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