The court supported Katrin Radmacher in the multi-million pound dispute, deciding that the agreement she signed with her ex-husband Nicolas Granatino to protect her fortune should be binding in England, even though it was signed in Germany.
“Today’s decision means a hugely important change in English law,” Radmacher’s lawyer Simon Bruce told reporters outside the court. “Pre-nups are now binding, so long as they’re fair. Katrin is delighted that Britain has upheld fairness.” British courts had previously considered pre-nuptial agreements not binding when deciding who gets what when a marriage fails, unlike their counterparts in other parts of Europe.
“The Radmacher ruling means anyone with any wealth or who expects to come into money and is getting married would be absolutely crazy not to have a pre-nuptial agreement because the full weight of the law will finally be behind it,” said Liz Allen, a divorce lawyer.
Granatino, a French former JP Morgan banker, had gone to the Supreme Court after appeal judges slashed his divorce settlement from more than £5 million to one million.
Reports said Radmacher, a paper company heiress, is set to inherit more than £100 million. Granatino told the court he had not realised the extent of her wealth when he signed the agreement.
Radmacher said in a statement afterwards: “For Nicolas and I, in our homelands — France and Germany — these agreements are entirely normal and routine. We made a promise to each other that if anything went wrong between us, both of us would walk away without making financial claims on each other. The promise made to me was broken.”
