If you signed a prenuptial agreement before you got married, you might be wondering if it still has legal standing, even if it no longer reflects your life today. If your finances have changed, or you have bought property, built up a business or taken on new financial responsibilities since the prenup was agreed, you may wonder whether it’s possible to change it to account for these new circumstances.

You can change a prenup after marriage, but it usually won’t involve editing the original agreement. Instead, you must amend or revoke the original prenup by entering into a deed of amendment or a postnuptial agreement instead.

In this blog, we’ll explain how prenuptial and postnuptial agreements work in England and Wales, when couples tend to update them, and what you can do to make sure an agreement carries legal standing in case it ever needs to be considered by the court.

What’s the difference between a prenup and a postnup?

The only real difference is that a prenuptial agreement is signed before marriage or before a civil ceremony that creates a civil partnership, and a postnuptial agreement is signed after the marriage or civil partnership has already begun.

In practice, both documents cover the same financial arrangements, including how you want to deal with:

• Assets one partner owned before the relationship.
• Any inheritance from outside the marriage.
• A family business.
• Debt liability.
• Spousal support.
• How asset division should work if divorce happens.

You’ll sometimes see both referred to together as prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, or simply nuptial agreements. The timing is the main difference.

Why might you want to change a prenup after marriage?

People often revisit an original prenuptial agreement because life has moved on. Most nuptial agreements include a review clause. Sometimes the agreement no longer reflects your financial circumstances, or it doesn’t deal with the practical realities of the relationship. It doesn’t mean that the relationship is breaking down or that the original agreement doesn’t address all of the new realities of your lives together.

Common reasons include:

A change in wealth or assets : you might now have significant assets that didn’t exist when you first signed the prenup agreement. This could include investments, company shares or major bonuses.

A change involving a family business : if a family business has grown or changed hands, you may want a written agreement that reflects how that asset should be treated if you divorce.

Buying or moving into a family home : if you’ve bought a new property, moved into one partner’s home, or used inherited money towards the mortgage, the agreement may need updating.

Children and new financial responsibilities : you may want to revisit plans around child maintenance or child support.

A previous relationship or second marriage : if one partner has children from a previous relationship, you might want the agreement to reflect future inheritance planning and asset division in a way that protects those arrangements.

Significant changes in health or income : if one partner has stopped working, become unwell or taken on childcare responsibilities, the agreement may no longer feel fair if the marriage ends.

Even with the best intentions, an agreement may carry less weight with the court if it no longer reflects your circumstances. This is because in the event you decide to divorce, the court will still look at the full picture of your finances, including what’s fair and what each person needs. It will only be guided by the prenuptial agreement if it deems that the document reflects a reasonable outcome for each party.

For example, an agreement might be difficult to rely on if it would leave one person without enough money to secure suitable housing, or if it was written on the assumption there would be no children but the couple later has a family and one parent becomes the main carer. The same can apply if one partner gives up work during the marriage, their health changes or the family’s financial circumstances look very different from when the agreement was first signed.

What makes an updated agreement more likely to hold weight in court?

If you decide to update your arrangements after marriage, it’s worth doing it in a way the court is more likely to take seriously later. That usually comes down to how the agreement was made, and whether both parties understood what they were signing.

There are two key requirements that will give a pre or postnuptial agreement sway with the court during divorce proceedings:

Independent legal advice

Both parties should seek independent legal advice from their own prenuptial solicitor . That means you each receive your own legal advice, and neither of you is relying on the same legal team.

Having an experienced family lawyer from Switalskis involved means your interests are protected and can verify that the document is fair to you. Independent advice means that both sides fully understand what they’re agreeing to, including what the agreement might mean if you separate in future, before the document is signed.

Full financial disclosure

For any agreement to carry weight, it needs to be based on full financial disclosure. This avoids arguments later about one party signing without knowing what was involved.

Full disclosure usually includes details of:

• property
• savings and investments
• pensions
• debts and loans
• business interests
• trust interests
• expected inheritances or gifts

For high net worth couples, this often means preparing a detailed schedule so the written agreement reflects the full picture of the party’s financial situation.

What if divorce is already likely?

You can still make a postnuptial agreement if separation is on the horizon, but timing can affect how the court views it later.

If one partner feels pressured, or the agreement is signed during conflict, the court may be less willing to rely on it. This is one reason both parties should obtain independent legal advice before signing.

If you’ve already started talking about separation, you may also need advice on the wider financial settlement process. That can include full financial disclosure, valuations of financial assets and an assessment of what each party needs going forward.

How Switalskis can help

If you want to change a prenup after marriage, the experts at Switalskis can help you work through your options and explain what a postnuptial agreement could look like in your situation.

Our family law team advises on prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, including agreements involving significant assets, business ownership, property and inheritance planning. We can also guide you through independent legal advice and full financial disclosure, so the agreement reflects your financial circumstances and has the best chance of being considered by the court.

To speak to a specialist family lawyer, call us on 0800 138 0458 or contact us through the website .