The Singapore Court of Appeal, in the scenario of TQ v TR [2009] SGCA 6, has conclusively made a decision on the enforceability of foreign prenuptial agreements.
In the earlier, Singapore adopted the English rule that prenuptial agreements are usually unenforceable. Having said that, a lot more new developments, both in England as well as in Singapore, have held this rule is outdated and should give way to a principle that prenuptial agreements may perhaps be deemed, as element of all the situations in a situation, in a court’s perseverance of what is just and honest.
The Singapore Courtroom of Appeal now retains that it will usually implement foreign prenuptial agreements.
The aforementioned situation fears a prenuptial arrangement in between a Dutch husband and a Swedish spouse that was entered into in the Netherlands. In certain, this settlement was organized by a Dutch civil legislation notary in the Netherlands. The arrangement furnished, amongst other factors, that “[t]right here shall be no local community of matrimonial belongings in any respect amongst the spouses” and that “[t]he marital house regime in pressure amongst them shall be governed by Netherlands law.”
The Court of Attraction held that the area courts need to accord “sizeable (even significant) pounds” to the conditions of a prenuptial agreement which is ruled by and valid according to a foreign legislation, except if its terms violate the community plan of Singapore.
It is also crucial to notice that the courtroom verified that the validity of a prenuptial settlement should really be governed by its “right” legislation, as with any other agreement. The validity of the Arrangement, therefore, depends on its status under Dutch regulation in the present scenario.
The right law is to be identified by (in order of descending precedence):
(a) the convey alternative of the events
(b) the implied selection of the parties and
(c) in the absence of any express or implied alternative of legislation, by ascertaining the system of legislation with which the agreement has the closest and most actual link, which is presumed to be the regulation of the matrimonial domicile unless of course rebutted.
In the long run, there is no blanket rule that a prenuptial arrangement will have to be enforced to the exclusion in light of all related circumstances right before the courtroom. The intention of the court docket is (in accordance with s 112(1) of the Women’s Charter) to get there at a division of matrimonial assets that is both just and equitable as between the parties.
Is a Prenuptial Arrangement vital?
Prenups can be a decision for the two get-togethers in agreement if it is executed properly by professionals. Consequently, it is finest to start out by talking with a law firm. Only you and your associate can make a decision, but it pays to be effectively researched and know all of your alternatives, especially when your finances and far more are at stake.