Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements in Singapore

A prenuptial agreement records what a couple intend should happen to their assets if the marriage ends. A postnuptial agreement does the same thing after the wedding.

They are worth having in the right circumstances, but they do not work quite the way most people expect.

They are not automatically binding

This is the point most people have wrong, and it is worth being direct about. A Singapore court is not bound to give effect to a prenuptial agreement, and it cannot be prevented from exercising its own discretion over the division of matrimonial assets. That is particularly so where there are children.

What a well-made agreement does is carry weight. Sometimes considerable weight. It shapes the starting point of the conversation rather than ending it, and that is a genuine benefit, but it is not the certainty a lot of people believe they are paying for.

What makes one carry weight

Broadly, an agreement stands a better chance where:

both parties had independent legal advice
both disclosed their assets honestly
neither was pressured into it
it was signed well before the wedding, not in the week of it
its terms are not manifestly unfair

An agreement signed three days before the ceremony, without disclosure, by a party who had no lawyer, is worth very little. That is a real pattern, not a hypothetical one.

If you are the one being asked to sign

Get your own lawyer. Not because the other side is acting badly, but because independent advice is one of the things that makes the agreement more likely to hold, and because it is how you find out what you are giving up.

When it is genuinely worth doing

Where one party brings substantial assets into the marriage. Where there is a business with other stakeholders who need certainty. Where there are children from an earlier relationship. Where assets are held in more than one country.

Where none of those applies, the agreement may cost more in atmosphere than it delivers in protection, and we will say so.

How we help

Tell you honestly whether it is worth doing

For some couples it plainly is. For others the assets do not justify the conversation, and the conversation itself costs something. We will say which we think you are.

Draft it so it stands the best chance of holding

Independent advice on both sides, honest disclosure of assets, no pressure, and signed well before the wedding rather than the week of it. An agreement failing several of those is worth very little.

Advise the party being asked to sign one

If your fiancé has produced an agreement, you need your own lawyer, and not as a formality. Independent advice is one of the things that makes the agreement enforceable, and it is also how you find out what you are giving up.

Handle a postnuptial agreement

The same exercise after the wedding, often prompted by an inheritance, a business, or a decision to try again after a difficult period.

Review one that has aged

An agreement drafted before three children and a house may no longer reflect anything either party recognises. Reviewing it is cheaper than discovering the problem later.

Argue about one on a divorce

From either side. Whether the agreement should be given effect is itself frequently the live issue, and it is argued on the circumstances in which it was made.

Questions people ask

Are prenuptial agreements binding in Singapore?

Not automatically, and this is the point most people have wrong. The court retains its own discretion over the division of matrimonial assets and cannot be contracted out of it, particularly where children are involved.

What a well-made agreement does is carry weight, sometimes considerable weight. That is a real benefit, but it is not the certainty people imagine they are buying.

What makes one more likely to be upheld?

Broadly: both parties had independent legal advice, both gave honest disclosure of their assets, neither was pressured, it was signed well in advance of the wedding rather than days before, and the terms are not manifestly unfair.

An agreement that fails several of those tests is worth much less than it cost.

My fiancé has asked me to sign one. What should I do?

Get your own lawyer, properly and not as a box-ticking exercise. Independent advice is one of the factors that makes the agreement more likely to be enforceable, so it is in both parties' interests, and it is how you find out what you are actually agreeing to.

Can we do one after the wedding?

Yes. A postnuptial agreement does the same job and is assessed on similar considerations. They are often prompted by an inheritance, a business, or a decision to continue after a difficult period.

When is one actually worth having?

Where one party brings substantial assets into the marriage, where there is a business with other stakeholders, where there are children from an earlier relationship whose position needs protecting, or where the couple hold assets in more than one country.

Does it cover the children?

Arrangements for children cannot be settled in advance in this way. The welfare of the child is for the court, and no agreement between the parents displaces that.