I shall be getting married in five months and we plan to live in a house which was bought for my future husband by his parents. They are suggesting we sign a prenuptial agreement to ensure their investment remains in their family in case we separate. Is this something I should agree to?
Prenuptial Agreements are a little mercenary and can cause suspicion from the outset which is not always good for one’s relationship! On the other hand, the property issue can be simply addressed by your fiancé’s parents taking a charge on the property for the amount that they provided.
However, this will imply that the purchase monies were not a gift and that monies remain owing to your fiancé. This may not be appropriate if it was intended that the property should be a gift from your fiancé’s parents and if this gift had been made some years ago then it may only be a matter of years before the value of the gift falls outside the Estate of your fiancé’s parents and therefore will represent a tax effective lifetime gift of their assets.
If a charge were taken over the property then it is a matter for your fiancé’s parents as to whether they would require that loan to be repaid, but in the event of your separating then it is recorded that the funding for the property came from your fiancé’s parents and that you made no direct contribution to the acquisition of the property.
What your ordinary entitlement would be in any divorce settlement is then entirely down to those criteria that are appropriate in any divorce proceedings.