Court highlights a raft of errors in High Court judgment after wife hid more than 70% of her wealth in pre-nuptial agreement.

UK: Court of Appeal Overturns Ruling Upholding Pre-Nuptial Agreement – Due to Wife’s ‘Fraudulent Non-Disclosure’! (3.8.2025)

The ruling marks a rare appellate intervention in the context of pre-nuptial agreements. Lady Justice King stressed that the court’s conclusion should not be seen as undermining Radmacher, nor as any shift in the law: “So long as there is no statutory scheme, Radmacher will continue to bind this court. […] Pre-nuptial agreements are about the autonomy of the parties to determine for themselves what should be the fair outcome in the event that their marriage fails.” However, the judge continued, where the parties themselves set out a disclosure regime in the agreement, any deliberate misrepresentation of that disclosure – particularly when induced by one party – is liable to vitiate the agreement. “[W]ilful or fraudulent breach of that agreement […] is entirely different from the position in Radmacher,” she concluded.