The Singapore Court of Appeal, in the circumstance of TQ v TR [2009] SGCA 6, has conclusively determined on the enforceability of international prenuptial agreements.
In the past, Singapore adopted the English rule that prenuptial agreements are usually unenforceable. However, far more latest developments, each in England as effectively as in Singapore, have held this rule is out-of-date and should give way to a theory that prenuptial agreements may possibly be considered, as element of all the instances in a circumstance, in a court’s dedication of what is just and honest.
The Singapore Court docket of Appeal now retains that it will typically implement foreign prenuptial agreements.
The aforementioned scenario worries a prenuptial agreement involving a Dutch husband and a Swedish wife that was entered into in the Netherlands. In unique, this agreement was ready by a Dutch civil regulation notary in the Netherlands. The settlement provided, amongst other items, that “[t]in this article shall be no neighborhood of matrimonial property in any way amongst the spouses” and that “[t]he marital assets regime in power between them shall be ruled by Netherlands legislation.”
The Courtroom of Attractiveness held that the regional courts ought to accord “considerable (even important) bodyweight” to the terms of a prenuptial agreement which is governed by and valid in accordance to a overseas legislation, except its conditions violate the general public policy of Singapore.
It is also essential to be aware that the courtroom verified that the validity of a prenuptial arrangement should be ruled by its “correct” regulation, as with any other contract. The validity of the Arrangement, therefore, relies upon on its status underneath Dutch law in the existing case.
The right legislation is to be determined by (in purchase of descending precedence):
(a) the specific alternative of the events
(b) the implied choice of the get-togethers and
(c) in the absence of any specific or implied preference of legislation, by ascertaining the program of regulation with which the settlement has the closest and most actual connection, which is presumed to be the law of the matrimonial domicile until rebutted.
In the end, there is no blanket rule that a prenuptial agreement will have to be enforced to the exclusion in light-weight of all suitable circumstances in advance of the court. The goal of the court docket is (in accordance with s 112(1) of the Women’s Constitution) to arrive at a division of matrimonial property that is each just and equitable as concerning the functions.
Is a Prenuptial Arrangement required?
Prenups can be a choice for the two get-togethers in settlement if it is executed appropriately by specialists. Hence, it is greatest to get started by talking with a lawyer. Only you and your husband or wife can make your mind up, but it pays to be very well investigated and know all of your solutions, specifically when your finances and more are at stake.