At my age, there are many people who are getting married, and then there are people who are getting divorced one after another. Even if you are not a close friend, consultation on divorce is still a common topic on the page. I have already written about divorce related posts before, so I won’t repeat them. What I want to talk about this time is the peace paper prepared for marriage - the marriage agreement, which is a letter of consent signed by the two couples before and after the marriage regarding their respective property arrangements. It is signed before the marriage. The one after marriage is called a prenuptial agreement, and the one after marriage is called a postnuptial agreement. If the two parties divorce, the parties can distribute the assets according to the content of the agreement rather than on the principle of "equal division".

Neither prenuptial nor postnuptial agreements were recognized in Hong Kong until about 10 years ago because such documents were considered against public policy. Marriage has always pursued a sharing of joys and sorrows. Don't many oaths also say, "No matter sickness, poverty, or death, we will be loyal to each other until forever"? Thinking about the possibility of divorce before "forever" has arrived, it feels contradictory to say it. But people will always change and the moon will become round. If one of the parties cheats or his temperament changes drastically, it will be painful to continue the marriage reluctantly. Especially under the premise that modern times advocate freedom and openness, it is natural for people to worry about the deterioration of the marriage relationship and sign a marriage agreement in advance to protect themselves. In the recent case of SPH v SA [2014] 3 HKLRD 497, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal put forward a modern view on marital agreements.

The simple summary is that the court believes that "negating the marriage agreement" is an outdated view. If a marriage agreement is signed voluntarily by both parties, without coercion and under the premise of fairness, the court should give it decisive influence. . It is generally believed that any agreement signed before or after marriage can be a valid marriage agreement, but what constitutes a voluntary and fair marriage agreement is very "flexible". For example, if the woman signs the contract while pregnant, she may be criticized. Both parties may also say that the other party is coercing her into signing the contract because she has a child, and they have no choice but to accept it "for the sake of the child." Who knows if this is true? It can only be said that the court always gives the highest priority to the interests of innocent children. Judges are also human beings and will be affected by some vague facts in their decisions. Therefore, it is generally recommended to sign a marriage agreement about one month before the wedding, when both parties have a clear understanding of their respective financial situations and there is no additional family or parent-child pressure.

I always have a subtle attitude towards whether I recommend that relatives and friends prepare a prenuptial agreement. On the one hand, I think that since you are willing to get married, you should take it seriously. It is good to have the option of divorce. I also ask that your personal life will not be affected after the divorce. property? So what was the point of getting married in the first place? But on the other hand, I can charge attorney fees - no, it should be when facing the pain of divorce, if there is no such a peace paper, the dispute will bring more pain. For example, in the case of MKK v YSM FCMC11948/2010, because the two couples did not sign a marriage agreement, although one party insisted on handling the assets of both parties separately for more than ten years, the court still believed that they should all be included in the distribution. As a result, the richer party was Tens of millions of assets were distributed. Regarding this situation, I always think: Who told you not to pay the lawyer's fees? You should regret it.

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