World | UK
Court accepts German heiress's prenuptial deal
A London appeals court ruled on Thursday that a prenuptial agreement drawn up by a German heiress and her former husband should be taken into account by courts when they divide up their assets.
- AP
- Published: 22:48 July 2, 2009
London: A London appeals court ruled on Thursday that a prenuptial agreement drawn up by a German heiress and her former husband should be taken into account by courts when they divide up their assets.
The judgment could change the way British courts view prenuptial contracts. British courts have generally refused to recognise these agreements but Lord Justice Mathew Thorpe said in his ruling he believed judges should give some weight to prenuptial contracts that had been freely entered into by both parties.
Thorpe overturned an earlier court ruling that had ordered heiress Katrin Radmacher to pay her former husband Nicolas Granatino £5.85 million pounds (Dh35.1 million).
Instead, he awarded Granatino a lump sum of around £1 million (Dh6 million) in place of maintenance and £2.5 million (Dh15 million) loan for a house that will be returned when the youngest of their two daughters, who is now six, turns 22.
Radmacher, 39, also agreed to pay off £700,000 (Dh7.2 million) of 37-year-old Granatino's debts.
Radmacher's lawyer Ayesha Vardag said the ruling "has enabled English matrimonial law to catch up with the rest of the world".
Radmacher, who has a fortune of at least £55 million (Dh330.7 million), married Granatino, a Frenchman, in 1998 and the couple separated in 2006.
Their prenuptial agreement, which said that Granatino should not get any of Radmacher's fortune if they divorced, would be enforceable in Germany but the couple divorced in Britain where courts have generally refused to enforce such agreements.
When the case first came to court last year, Radmacher not only relied on the prenuptial agreement but contended that her former husband had earned a high salary as a banker and could easily support himself.
He ceased working in 2003, however, to pursue a doctorate in biotechnology.
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