Helliwell v Entwistle Prenuptial Agreements

The wedding season is upon us and usually hand in hand with that comes the flurry of enquiries for prenuptial agreements, whether that be to draft the agreement or review and advise on a pre-nuptial agreement already prepared. The Court of Appeal, with impeccable timing, last week handed down judgment in the case of Entwistle v Helliwell, a big money case which involved the enforceability of a pre-nuptial agreement.

In this case following the parties separation Ms Helliwell sought to enforce the terms of a prenuptial agreement entered into between the parties just before their wedding. The actual agreement provided for each party to retain their own separate property and split in any jointly owned property equally. Ms Helliwell came from a very wealthy family. Initially the High Court Judge agreed that the parties should be held to the terms of the prenuptial agreement except for a lump sum to Mr. Entwistle to meet his needs. That lump sum was £400,000 but in the context of Ms Helliwell having assets of between £60-70 million. Mr. Entwistle’s assets were less than £1 million some of which was equity tied up in a property shared with his parents.

Mr. Entwistle appealed.

Usually, parties can expect to be held to the terms of a prenuptial agreement so long as appropriate and well established steps have been taken in the preparation of the agreement. However, in this case, despite both parties agreeing to disclose to each other their financial position when preparing the prenuptial agreement (i.e. to provide financial disclosure) Ms Helliwell disclosed total assets of approximately £18.2 million whereas her actual financial position included a further £47.8 million in assets which were not disclosed.

The Court of Appeal allowed Mr. Entwistle’s appeal and effectively set aside the pre-nuptial agreement on the grounds of Ms Helliwell’s deliberate and material non-disclosure of what amounted to nearly 73% of her assets. The case will be heard again in the High Court and a new division of the assets will be determined, unless of course the parties can now reach an agreed settlement.

The case serves as a timely reminder that if parties wish for the court to uphold a prenuptial agreement it should be prepared properly, with adherence to the now well established principles that mean weight will be attached to such agreements. If there is an agreement to provide financial disclosure, which is always recommended, then it should be full disclosure of each parties financial resources. Prenuptial agreements can provide certainty and help avoid future costly litigation, but they should always be undertaken in line with well established guidance and principles.

The case can be found here Entwistle v Helliwell CA-2024-000509 FINAL JUDGMENT