Law lords to clarify status of prenups

SENIOR judges will clarify today the legal status of prenuptial agreements drawn up by couples trying to protect their wealth from a marital split.

In a test case, the first of its kind, five law lords will be asked to decide if an agreement signed by an American couple with five children, who divorced after 10 years of marriage, should be upheld.

At present, courts take prenuptial contracts into account but they are not legally binding so any decision made could have huge repercussions for others who have made a pact before marriage.

The court will be asked to validate a deal made between Rob MacLeod, a 64-year-old businessman who made his fortune in the cable television business, and his 42-year-old wife, which was signed when they married in Florida in 1994 and which they subsequently amended on two separate occasions. But a disagreement about how much money Mrs MacLeod should be awarded has prompted her husband to seek clarification.

The case will be heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest appeals court for UK overseas territories, because the couple live on the Isle of Man. Mrs MacLeod is claiming £5.6million, an amount agreed by the Isle of Man Court of Appeal. But Mr MacLeod claims his wife should be bound by a 2002 variation of their prenuptial agreement, when the marriage was faltering and Mrs MacLeod began an adulterous relationship. This allows a £2million settlement.

The Law Lords last considered the enforceability of prenuptial agreements in 1929. But pressure for reform has been mounting over the past decade. Family law partner at Withers, Suzanne Todd, said: "This is a chance for the Privy Council to acknowledge the evolution of social values."