“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.”

[email protected]

This article was first published in The Straits Times.