Work, Organizations and Society cluster leader, Lucy-Ann Buckley, has written a new article for RTÉ Brainstorm. The piece looks at pre-nuptial agreements in Ireland and why they are not legally enforceable.

Why aren’t prenuptial agreements legally enforceable in Ireland?

"It is often argued that legally recognising prenups would respect the parties' wishes and reduce legal costs"

“It is often argued that legally recognising prenups would respect the parties’ wishes and reduce legal costs”Opinion: divorce may be legal in Ireland yet courts cannot be required to enforce prenups as this would be unconstitutionalRecent recommendations by the Law Society that prenuptial agreements (commonly known as prenups) should be legally enforceable may have caused some public surprise. Why aren’t prenups enforceable already? In fact, there has been a prolonged media campaign on this issue – farming organisations, in particular, have strongly campaigned for legal change.

Prenups were traditionally regarded as encouraging marital breakdown and against public policy. Spouses could make a separation agreement where they had already separated, but they could not agree the terms of their divorce before they ever got married. However, some kinds of prenups are enforceable. For instance, spouses can agree in advance to waive their statutory inheritance rights, and civil partners can make binding agreements governing their financial relationship. Continue reading…

RTÉ Brainstorm – Why aren’t prenuptial agreements legally enforceable in Ireland?

Why aren’t prenuptial agreements legally enforceable in Ireland?

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