The money in a pre-nup...

[Mehrgan]

Hi there,
I wondered if there were any equivalent in English for the term I'm looking for. Actually, in my country, upon getting married couples sign a form of a document (Something like a pre-nuptial agreement) in which some agreements are reached on what will happen in the case of (a) divorce. One of such agreements is a fairly big amount of money (in the form of gold coins - ranging from 2000 or 3000 coins to any possible number, each worthing £100-£120!) that the husband will be forced to pay his wife after divorce. Is there any term used for such money in English?


(Sorry for being wordy!)

 

[Barb_D]

The money that one person pays another after a divorce is called alimony, but I'm not familiar enough with the world of pre-nups to know whether it's called that in a pre-nup or if it's called something different.

 

[Mehrgan]

The money that one person pays another after a divorce is called alimony, but I'm not familiar enough with the world of pre-nups to know whether it's called that in a pre-nup or if it's called something different.

Should this amount of money be necessarily paid in instalments? Is it a fixed amount of money, or something agreed upon in advance? Thanks a lot for the reply.

 

[Barb_D]

Usually alimony is paid monthly, and often for only a specific period of time, but I"m sure the couple could agree to one lump-sum settlement.

(I personally don't know anyone with a pre-nup. It tends to be used by people who are rich, who have a lot of assets before the marriage. That wasn't me! :-D )

 

[Tullia]

Pre-nuptial agreements have no legal standing in the UK, as far as I am aware (unless the law changed in the last couple of years).

There's nothing stopping a couple signing one but a divorce court could simply ignore it if they wanted.

In fact, I believe that even if you marry and sign a pre-nup in a country where they are considered legally binding, if you divorce in the UK it can be ignored.


As such, in Br Eng, we don't have a specific word to refer to either a lump sum granted by such an agreement, or a regular payment as a result of it either.

I don't see a problem with using the word "alimony" for the regular payments, though. Technically it's a court ordered payment but of course if you are in a country where the pre-nup is legally binding then a court would order it if necessary. I often think it sounds rather American; here in the UK I probably hear such payments referred to simply as "maintenance payments" "maintenance money" or even just "maintenance" all the time.

"My ex-husband is always late with the maintenance, every month. He's a waste of space."
"Now the kids have turned 18, the amount of maintenance I have to pay my ex-wife has dropped considerably."

I'm intrigued by what word we would use for a lump sum award in the way you describe - I'll have think about that one. For fun, I'd love to say we could call it a "severance package" but sadly I don't think it will catch on!

 

[Mehrgan]

Pre-nuptial agreements have no legal standing in the UK, as far as I am aware (unless the law changed in the last couple of years).

There's nothing stopping a couple signing one but a divorce court could simply ignore it if they wanted.

In fact, I believe that even if you marry and sign a pre-nup in a country where they are considered legally binding, if you divorce in the UK it can be ignored.


As such, in Br Eng, we don't have a specific word to refer to either a lump sum granted by such an agreement, or a regular payment as a result of it either.

I don't see a problem with using the word "alimony" for the regular payments, though. Technically it's a court ordered payment but of course if you are in a country where the pre-nup is legally binding then a court would order it if necessary. I often think it sounds rather American; here in the UK I probably hear such payments referred to simply as "maintenance payments" "maintenance money" or even just "maintenance" all the time.

"My ex-husband is always late with the maintenance, every month. He's a waste of space."
"Now the kids have turned 18, the amount of maintenance I have to pay my ex-wife has dropped considerably."

I'm intrigued by what word we would use for a lump sum award in the way you describe - I'll have think about that one. For fun, I'd love to say we could call it a "severance package" but sadly I don't think it will catch on!

Many thanks to the dear posters. And a big thanks to dear Tullia for the very splendid explanation. Cheers!