Demand for pre-nuptial agreements has soared over the past year, according to research released this week by accountants Grant Thornton.


More than three quarters (77%) of the 100 lawyers surveyed said they had seen a rise in the number of pre-nuptial agreements, and 56% thought the documents should be legally binding.



The Crossley case in the Court of Appeal shone a spotlight on the issue at the end of last year and strengthened the call for a legislative change to make the agreements enforceable. On separation from her husband, Susan Crossley sought a declaration that her pre-nuptial agreement was void due to the alleged non-disclosure of assets by her husband. But the Court of Appeal upheld the agreement and she withdrew her appeal to the House of Lords.



The research also showed that the volume of pre-civil partnership agreements and cohabitation agreements has rocketed during the past 12 months.



Mark Harper, family partner at City firm Withers, who acted for Susan Crossley's husband, said his firm had seen a three-fold increase in the number of pre-nuptial agreements in the past three years.



'Anyone with significant assets would be mad not to make one,' he said.



Vanessa Lloyd-Platt, founder of North London firm Lloyd-Platt & Co, said: 'We have seen a sea-change in favour of pre-nups since the Crossley case and around a 7-10% increase in demand for them.'



Catherine Baksi