I CAN'T say I'm surprised that young men are increasingly turning to prenuptial agreements when they marry, to avoid being taken to the cleaners if the relationship doesn't last.
The law has turned a situation that was clearly unfair to women in the past into one that now seems hopelessly weighted against many men.
The divorce laws were changed a decade ago to avoid the mess when a man deserted his wife after a long marriage and left her with nothing.
She may not have worked full-time outside the home but would have been fully occupied during their marriage by looking after the family and providing her husband with a clean house, a nice garden and full stomach.
When he skipped off with a new love, she was left with no income, no pension and, if the split happened late in life, probably no earning power.
Wrong? Of course, so the law was sensibly altered to make it fairer for the wife. After all, she had saved him money on childcare and domestic help over many years.
Recognition is now given to the non-financial contributions of a partner, payments are no longer decided according to a wife's 'reasonable needs' and an equal splitting of assets on divorce is the norm.
On the downside, this has resulted in some women in short-lived relationships milking their high-earning spouses for big pots of money when they have contributed little to the marriage and nothing to their careers. Anyone famous spring to mind?
Some ex-wives have acknowledged the unfairness of this. Sarah Brightman offered to pay back ex-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber £6million alimony when she hit the big-time. He told her to keep it, as she'd earned it!
Billie Piper refused money from ex-husband Chris Evans, saying her earning power was equal to his.
Prenuptial agreements also protect wealthy women. Britney Spears's prenup meant the end of her two-year marriage to a dancer didn't result in her having to part with half her hard-earned fortune.
Mr F and I married very young without a bean between us, so splitting assets was never going to be a problem. We've accrued a bit more since of course, so I'd like here and now to put my claim on the satnav.
Well, you never know.
