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Pre-nuptial victory for heiress | Pre-nuptial victory for heiress |
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An Appeal Court ruling over a divorced couple's pre-nuptial agreement could pave the way for them to become legally binding in the UK. | An Appeal Court ruling over a divorced couple's pre-nuptial agreement could pave the way for them to become legally binding in the UK. |
Katrin Radmacher, a German heiress, has overturned an earlier decision which awarded her ex-husband £5.8m of her £100m fortune despite their agreement. | |
Frenchman Nicolas Granatino had agreed not to make a claim if they divorced. | |
Such contracts are enforceable in France and Germany, but not in the UK where the couple married in 1998. | |
Miss Radmacher, 39, is one of Germany's richest women and Mr Granatino is a former investment banker. | Miss Radmacher, 39, is one of Germany's richest women and Mr Granatino is a former investment banker. |
Their pre-nuptial was signed in Germany before the couple married. | |
The pair's marriage was said to have broken down after Mr Granatino, 37, gave up a lucrative job in the emerging markets sector in 2003 to become a £30,000-a-year biotechnology researcher at Oxford University. | The pair's marriage was said to have broken down after Mr Granatino, 37, gave up a lucrative job in the emerging markets sector in 2003 to become a £30,000-a-year biotechnology researcher at Oxford University. |
They divorced in 2006 and a High Court ruling last year awarded her ex-husband £5.8m. | |
Miss Radmacher appealed against that decision and her lawyer, Richard Todd QC, told a panel of three Court of Appeal judges the freedom to agree a contract was "at the heart of all modern commercial and legal systems". | Miss Radmacher appealed against that decision and her lawyer, Richard Todd QC, told a panel of three Court of Appeal judges the freedom to agree a contract was "at the heart of all modern commercial and legal systems". |