Wife Wanting Postnup To Give Her More Money if She Divorces Sparks Fury

A wife seeking advice over whether she should draw up a postnup to give her more money in the event of a divorce has sparked fury online.

The mom-of-two shared her situation to Mumsnet, under username Dillydally24, as she revealed her and her husband have two young children, a toddler and a baby.

She wrote: "My husband brought a lot of assets to the marriage (about £3m) ($3.7m), the result of years of hard work. I brought assets too, but a fraction of that amount. Before marrying, I signed a prenup which left me with half the share of assets generated during our marriage.

"I am now asking to have that prenup replaced by a more generous postnup, as, if we were to divorce now, the settlement outlined in the prenup would leave me with assets of about £500k ($621k), of which about £300k ($373k) would be my own savings."

The mom, who's been married for less than five years, explained she is a "high earner" now, continuing: "£500k ($621k) is a lot, I know, but wouldn't be enough to buy a house in our local area where four-bed houses cost £1.5m ($1.8m).

"I am asking for more, but my husband says I don't need it because my earnings have taken off since we married (I now make about £500k ($621k) a year gross of tax) and I can afford to take out a big mortgage to make up the shortfall.

"AIBU to ask for more? I just want enough to buy a home for me and the kids without having to stress about a massive mortgage. He makes roughly the same amount of money a year as me."

Her post, shared on Wednesday, has amassed more than 150 replies, and can be read here, as people slammed her query as being tone-deaf amid people struggling against the soaring cost of living in the U.K., where the pair are thought to be based.

FairyLightAddict wrote: "First world issues. Get proper legal advice."

RoyKentsChestHair snapped: "Read the room dude. People here have actual problems. Renegotiating the division of your massive wealth is not a Mumsnet problem. Speak to your financial advisor, surely you just have one with that income?"

Orwellwasrigh said: "The problem of how to divvy up your £500k ($621k) salary and your husband's £3m ($3.7m) in assets is not something that many people are going to care about resolving for you."

Over2021 asked: "I'm just wondering how you even have this conversation in a happy marriage. 'Oh by the way hubby can we renegotiate our pre-nup... pass the milk...'"

Ssd advised: "Seriously, with those amounts involved get a decent solicitor."

Honeyroar thought: "It just seems a little weird to be so bothered about what you'd get if you split up when you've signed a prenup and got married fairly recently."

MarvellousMay asked: "Isn't your husband worried about the fact you now want to renegotiate? Screams 'I'm looking to leave' to me."

Borris added: "I genuinely don't understand why you are wanting to change the prenup when you're not planning to split up! How would you even bring this up with your DH?"

After receiving the backlash, the mom, who works in finance, confirmed she wasn't looking for a divorce, saying: "I don't want to leave my husband.... All I want to know is whether it's crazy to ask for more than our prenup provides for. It's not a question of whether I can afford to service a mortgage on a house after we divorce, but whether I should have to."

Explaining what a prenup, and postnup, is, website Divorce-online.co.uk explained the former is entered into before a marriage.

Essentially a contract, it "sets out how the assets of each spouse should be distributed in the event of divorce.

"Their primary purpose is to avoid these assets becoming mixed together in the overall matrimonial pot by: setting out who owns what at the start of the marriage. Demonstrating the intention to keep individual assets separate," the site said.

It can cover anything from property to savings, jewelry, art and even pensions, and aims to reduce disputes ending up in court.

The chart below, provided by Statista, shows some of the most expensive divorces in history.

You will find more infographics at Statista

In contrast, a postnup is also a contract which sets out "how the assets of each spouse should be distributed in the event of divorce, but it is entered into by a husband and wife who are already married."

It covers the same scope of assets, as the site said: "The main goal of postnups is similarly to avoid assets becoming mixed together in the overall matrimonial pot and to reduce financial disputes further down the line in the case of divorce."

Although they stated that they can, and should be, reviewed regularly if there are considerable changes to the couple's position.

"It is advisable that both pre and post nuptial agreements are reviewed every few years to check that they take account of the latest situation (e.g. if there has been a material change of financial circumstances)," they said.