Lawyers expect more couples to sign such pacts after recent court ruling
By Debbie Yong 15 February 2009
She is Singaporean. He is French, and aristocratic too. But she found that out only later, after a year of dating.
So Ms. Judy Tan was somewhat prepared when a prenuptial agreement, or a ‘prenup’, was broached to her by his mother.
The 31-year-old branding manager and Frenchman Matthias de Ferrieres de Sauveboeuf, also 31, met at a party in Singapore in 2002 and fell in love.
A business strategist for an insurance company, he has lived and worked here for the past eight years.
While dating, Ms. Tan, who grew up in a three-room HDB flat, learnt that he is a lord and his family home is a historical castle-turned- private museum in Angers, France.
When it came to their marriage, her future mother-in-law asked if she would sign a prenuptial agreement with him.
‘I was expecting it. It’s not a big deal if you understand the principle behind it,’ Ms. Tan said.
The prenuptial matter was nicely explained to her.
‘If his parents had made it seem as though I was out to get the family wealth, I might have objected. We’re both working and can earn our own upkeep,’ she said.
She signed the 20-page legal papers drafted by French lawyers one week before their wedding in France in July 2006.
‘His mother explained that it was to ensure that the family heritage and history was passed on. She too signed one when she married my father-in-law,’ she said.
‘When my daughter gets married, I would probably get her to sign one too.’
The couple and their three-month-old daughter, Sybelle, now live in a Joo Chiat condominium apartment.
Under the prenuptial agreement, only assets that the couple accumulated together during their marriage would be divided in the case of a divorce.
Assets and liabilities from the de Ferrieres de Sauveboeuf or Tan families would not be factored in.
‘Their family owned the properties for several generations. Coming from a different nationality, I will make no claim to a French historical monument, so the terms make no difference to our marriage,’ said Ms. Tan.
The issue of prenuptial agreements was raised in a 30-page Court of Appeal judgment passed last Monday.
In its decision, Singapore’s highest court said contracts made before marriage regarding a couple’s assets, maintenance and the custody and care of children will be considered by the courts in a divorce but not automatically upheld.
The decision arose from a divorce between a Dutch man and a Swedish woman who had lived here for the past 12 years. The couple had signed such an agreement, prepared by a notary, before they got married in 1991 in the Netherlands.
When they filed for divorce in Singapore in March 2004, both contested the prenuptial pact.
With the landmark ruling, family lawyers The Sunday Times spoke to said they expected more Singaporeans to sign prenuptial pacts.
Previously, foreigners made up the bulk of such clients, as most Singaporeans were sceptical about the legality of such documents.
In Singapore, divorces are governed by the Women’s Charter, which seeks to protect the more vulnerable party in a split.
But there have been more inquiries about prenuptial pacts in the past three to five years, said lawyers, which they attribute to greater awareness, growing affluence and more late marriages here.
Few have followed through on their inquiries.
‘With the court’s clarification, couples are now better prepared for what they are getting into when they sign a prenup,’ said Mr. Gopinath Pillai, head of the criminal and family law practice group of Tan Peng Chin LLC.
He drafts about two such contracts a year. Since the court’s decision last week, he has received about 10 calls from interested clients.
He said the clients are often either well-off or have been through a previous divorce.
He sees an equal number of male and female clients. Most of the women are Singaporeans who married foreigners and are migrating. They want assurance that they will be protected as they are unfamiliar with foreign laws.
His strangest request? There was a couple that wanted a pact in which each time they acquired a new asset, they would determine its value and the share each party gets in the event of a divorce.
‘It seems to go against the marriage ideal of sharing everything you have with each other,’ said Mr. Pillai.
Ms. Foo Siew Fong, head of the matrimonial department at Harry Elias Partnership, agreed with this view.
She said she frequently advises clients to reconsider their decision to draft the contract and to broach the topic gently with their future spouses if they choose to go ahead.
Ms. Foo, who drafted four pre- nuptial agreements last year, said: ‘It may sour the marriage even before it has begun. In some cases, it can be a self-fufilling prophecy as one party may feel that the marriage does not start on a platform of trust.’
One bride-to-be, private tutor Joanne Lim, 28, said that she thought such contracts made practical sense.
Though she and her future husband will not be signing a prenuptial pact before their wedding in July, she said: ‘You could also look at it as an act of love. It’s proof that you’re not marrying your spouse just for the money.’
1 comment:
Saying ‘I do’ to prenups
Lawyers expect more couples to sign such pacts after recent court ruling
By Debbie Yong
15 February 2009
She is Singaporean. He is French, and aristocratic too. But she found that out only later, after a year of dating.
So Ms. Judy Tan was somewhat prepared when a prenuptial agreement, or a ‘prenup’, was broached to her by his mother.
The 31-year-old branding manager and Frenchman Matthias de Ferrieres de Sauveboeuf, also 31, met at a party in Singapore in 2002 and fell in love.
A business strategist for an insurance company, he has lived and worked here for the past eight years.
While dating, Ms. Tan, who grew up in a three-room HDB flat, learnt that he is a lord and his family home is a historical castle-turned- private museum in Angers, France.
When it came to their marriage, her future mother-in-law asked if she would sign a prenuptial agreement with him.
‘I was expecting it. It’s not a big deal if you understand the principle behind it,’ Ms. Tan said.
The prenuptial matter was nicely explained to her.
‘If his parents had made it seem as though I was out to get the family wealth, I might have objected. We’re both working and can earn our own upkeep,’ she said.
She signed the 20-page legal papers drafted by French lawyers one week before their wedding in France in July 2006.
‘His mother explained that it was to ensure that the family heritage and history was passed on. She too signed one when she married my father-in-law,’ she said.
‘When my daughter gets married, I would probably get her to sign one too.’
The couple and their three-month-old daughter, Sybelle, now live in a Joo Chiat condominium apartment.
Under the prenuptial agreement, only assets that the couple accumulated together during their marriage would be divided in the case of a divorce.
Assets and liabilities from the de Ferrieres de Sauveboeuf or Tan families would not be factored in.
‘Their family owned the properties for several generations. Coming from a different nationality, I will make no claim to a French historical monument, so the terms make no difference to our marriage,’ said Ms. Tan.
The issue of prenuptial agreements was raised in a 30-page Court of Appeal judgment passed last Monday.
In its decision, Singapore’s highest court said contracts made before marriage regarding a couple’s assets, maintenance and the custody and care of children will be considered by the courts in a divorce but not automatically upheld.
The decision arose from a divorce between a Dutch man and a Swedish woman who had lived here for the past 12 years. The couple had signed such an agreement, prepared by a notary, before they got married in 1991 in the Netherlands.
When they filed for divorce in Singapore in March 2004, both contested the prenuptial pact.
With the landmark ruling, family lawyers The Sunday Times spoke to said they expected more Singaporeans to sign prenuptial pacts.
Previously, foreigners made up the bulk of such clients, as most Singaporeans were sceptical about the legality of such documents.
In Singapore, divorces are governed by the Women’s Charter, which seeks to protect the more vulnerable party in a split.
But there have been more inquiries about prenuptial pacts in the past three to five years, said lawyers, which they attribute to greater awareness, growing affluence and more late marriages here.
Few have followed through on their inquiries.
‘With the court’s clarification, couples are now better prepared for what they are getting into when they sign a prenup,’ said Mr. Gopinath Pillai, head of the criminal and family law practice group of Tan Peng Chin LLC.
He drafts about two such contracts a year. Since the court’s decision last week, he has received about 10 calls from interested clients.
He said the clients are often either well-off or have been through a previous divorce.
He sees an equal number of male and female clients. Most of the women are Singaporeans who married foreigners and are migrating. They want assurance that they will be protected as they are unfamiliar with foreign laws.
His strangest request? There was a couple that wanted a pact in which each time they acquired a new asset, they would determine its value and the share each party gets in the event of a divorce.
‘It seems to go against the marriage ideal of sharing everything you have with each other,’ said Mr. Pillai.
Ms. Foo Siew Fong, head of the matrimonial department at Harry Elias Partnership, agreed with this view.
She said she frequently advises clients to reconsider their decision to draft the contract and to broach the topic gently with their future spouses if they choose to go ahead.
Ms. Foo, who drafted four pre- nuptial agreements last year, said: ‘It may sour the marriage even before it has begun. In some cases, it can be a self-fufilling prophecy as one party may feel that the marriage does not start on a platform of trust.’
One bride-to-be, private tutor Joanne Lim, 28, said that she thought such contracts made practical sense.
Though she and her future husband will not be signing a prenuptial pact before their wedding in July, she said: ‘You could also look at it as an act of love. It’s proof that you’re not marrying your spouse just for the money.’
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