LEGAL experts in Scotland have given a cautious welcome to suggestions that senior civil servants are working on proposals to make pre-marital contracts legally binding, writes William Tinning.
The couples counselling charity, Relate, said the move would help some people, but insisted that the majority of people would not be affected.
The Lord Chancellor's Department has confirmed that Ministers have been looking at the possibility of making pre-nuptial contracts legally binding.
The agreements, covering issues like division of assets and ''role-sharing'' in marriage, are common in America and on the Continent.
In Scotland, there is nothing at present to stop a couple entering into a pre-nuptial agreement, although a judge or sheriff retains the right to strike it down if he considers it is unreasonable.
Mr Cameron Fyfe, managing partner with Glasgow solicitors, Ross, Harper and Murphy, yesterday said the demand for contracts had grown steadily in Scotland.
''We have a couple of clients a month who contact us with a view to framing a pre-nuptial contract,'' Mr Fyfe said.
''The law has never been tested, but it is thought they would be enforceable in Scotland.
''Psychologically it is not an enthralling way to start a marriage, but you could argue that a pre-marriage contract is a practical way.''
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