As a San Diego divorce lawyer who prepares premarital agreements, I am followed the marriage of Robbie Williams to Ayda Field on August 7, 2010 in Los Angeles. Mainly, because Williams had Field sign a premarital (prenuptial, ante nuptial) agreement prior to the marriage.
Not everyone in this country has heard of him however Robbie Williams is an entertainer (singer, songwriter) who's success in the British entertainment industry has earned him an estate of approximately $160 million.
In the past I have kept the file of a couple for whom I have prepared a premarital agreement in my office pursuant to an educated guess that the marriage would fail. I haven't been able to verify this suspicion with scientific data. Beth Potier of the Harvard News Office wrote an article stating that prenuptial agreements predict doom in a marriage, if for no other reason, the legal document is unromantic. With the divorce rate of approximately 50% for first time marriages and a higher divorce rate for second marriages, anything that makes the second marriage less romantic does seem to predict doom for the marriage.
I have had two trials in the last three years involving premarital agreements and a request to set aside the agreement. This litigation can alone be as expensive, laborious and time consuming as any litigation in family law. Here are some thoughts as to the preparation of a prenuptial agreement:
Have the document prepared by a Certified Family Law Specialist. You can see the requirements to become a legal specialist on the California State Bar website. An extremely same percentage of attorneys bother to do this by virtue of the additional study, testing, and other requirements. Do not set a wedding date until the premarital agreement is signed. Both sides to the agreement should be represented by independent counsel. This is a contract negotiated at “arms length”. The more aggressive the premarital agreement, the higher chance that it will be set aside.
The San Diego divorce attorneys of the Law Office of Thomas M. Huguenor handle premarital agreement cases.
