Marital Property Agreements (MPA)

Survey

Key Points

 

v  87% said the most common type of MPA is a prenuptial

v  73% of participants said that they received between 1 and 5 MPA enquiries per month

v  79% of participants said that they completed between 1 and 5 MPA per month

 

v  In 2004 70% completed no MPA per month

 

v  In 1994 83% completed no MPA per month

 

v  In twenty years there has therefore been a 73% rise in the use of MPA

 

v  100% of MPA completed were for separation of property

v  90% of couples completing MPA were in the 31 to 50 bracket

v  64% of men entering in to MPA earn over £50,000 per annum (most common)

 

v  37% of women entering in to MPA earn over £50,000 per annum

 

v  40% of women earn between £26,000 and £50,000 (most common)

v  37% of women had between £25,001 and £100k in capital (most common)

 

v  53% Men completing MPA had over £250k in capital (most common)

 

v  10% of women had over £250k in capital

 

v  40% of participants said they did not represent any MPA cases in court per annum,

 

v  40% said they represented between 1 and 5 MPA cases in court per annum

 

v  76% said the courts applied the details of the MPA in part

 

v  5% said they applied the details of the MPA in full

 

v  19% said they did not apply the details of the MPA at all.

 

v  55% received between 1 and 5 enquiries about cohabiting agreements per month

 

v  66% complete between 1 and 5 Cohabiting agreements per month

 

v  69% of participants thought that MPA should be binging on the courts so long as there were adequate safeguards.

 

v  55% of participants said that they thought there would be litigation on the basis of misrepresentation or undue influence if MPAs were binding

v  38% of participants were in favour of including making a will at the same time as completing a MPA as a way of reducing the stigma of an MPA

 

v  34%  of participants were against a will at the same time as completing a MPA as a way of reducing the stigma of an MPA

v  72% of participants said they now advertise MPA as they have become more popular

 

v  £350 the lowest charged for a prenuptial agreement

 

v  £20,000 the highest charged for a prenuptial agreement