Radmacher v Granatino: Watch this Space
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In our jurisdiction pre-nuptial agreements are not formally recognised by the court but will be taken into account and may be upheld by the court if deemed fair.
On 22 March 2010, the Supreme Court began hearing the husband’s appeal in a case to decide whether to overrule the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in July 2009.
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The case concerns a pre-nuptial agreement that was drawn up by wealthy German heiress Katrin Radmacher, said to be worth more than £150m, and her former husband Nicolas Granatino, who is French. Mr Granatino, an investment banker turned academic at Oxford University, agreed in the pre-nuptial agreement not to make any claim against the wealthy heiress should their marriage fail. However, on divorce in 2008 the husband was awarded £5.85m. The couple were married for 12 years and have two children.
Ms Radmacher appealed the decision in July 2009, which resulted in a landmark victory for her, slashing the husband’s award to a lump sum payment of about
£1m in lieu of maintenance, plus a housing fund of £2.5m for 2 houses for his use until the children were grown up. The houses were to be returned to Ms Radmacher when the younger of their two children reached 22 years old. Effectively, Mr Granatino received an award similar to what might have been expected had he and Ms Radmacher not been married at all but had had the two children outside marriage.
However, Mr Granatino was given permission to take his case even further to the Supreme Court and it is this decision that is eagerly anticipated by divorce lawyers. Mr Granatino claims that he did not know the extent of his ex-wife’s wealth at the time of their marriage, as there was no formal disclosure of their respective financial positions (which would be a requirement in our jurisdiction but is not the norm in Germany when the pre-nuptial agreement was drawn up), and that therefore he should not be held to the agreement.
Mr Granatino’s lawyers continue to argue that the agreement should be disregarded and that the Court of Appeal’s decision in July to reduce significantly the financial settlement was “fundamentally unfair.” Ms Radmacher’s lawyers, however, have presented that Mr Granatino was in himself independently wealthy and although the Court of Appeal had reduced his divorce settlement Mr Granatino would still be left with considerable assets which he would continue to benefit from in the future.
If the Supreme Court rules in favour of Ms Radmacher, the use of pre-nuptial agreements is likely to increase dramatically. Such a decision could set a legal precedent changing divorce law within England and Wales.
The Supreme Court will give its ruling shortly…
Michael Gregory is Associate in Silverman Sherliker’s Family Law department. For advice on pre-nups please contact Michael on +44 (0)20 7749 2700, or any member of the Family Law team as follows:
Maeve O'Higgins: moh@silvermansherliker.co.uk
Michael Gregory: mgr@silvermansherliker.co.uk
Vanessa Lyus: vl@silvermansherliker.co.uk. |
