Dear Listener

What have I been doing this week? Spending Review. Spending Review. Spending Review. Waiting for it. Listening to it. Reading it. Thinking about it. Analysing it. Calling the Treasury and other departments about it. Puzzling over it. Broadcasting about it. And now writing about it.

Money Box will be doing a lot more about it. And that means we won’t be covering the end of marriage as we know it. Also known as Radmacher v Granatino. In future partners who get married can sign an agreement that the other partner will not have a call on the wealth they take into the marriage. The Supreme Court upheld the pre-nuptial agreement signed between Katrin Radmacher and Nicolas Granatino which said precisely that. In future divorce courts will have to recognise the strength of such agreements if they are entered into voluntarily as long as the agreement still seemed fair at the time of the divorce.

I summarise a 70 page judgement but that seems to be the essence of it. So expect to see a flood of pre-nups (which the Supreme Court insists on calling ‘ante-nuptial agreements’) as people try to protect their pre-marital property from their post-wedding partner. One big group of clients for such documents will be those who are embarking on what Samuel Johnson called “the triumph of hope of over experience” – a second life-long relationship. There is always the danger that property will pass to a new partner then to their new partner and leave the biological children of the first to divorce with nothing – or much less anyway.

But it seems likely that the real winners will be the army of lawyers drawing up thousands of pre-nups and the opposing army of lawyers challenging them on obscure points in the Supreme Court’s ruling.

So I am sorry that we are unable to do Radmacher v Granatino this week. But if you have a question about the financial aspects of divorce, the dissolution of civil partnerships or separation, you can tune in on Wednesday when my colleague Vincent Duggleby will be taking your questions on that subject on Money Box Live. 

Meanwhile…

***IN MONEY BOX THIS WEEK***

The Spending Review. Sorry but we have to return to it. More obscure points have been elucidated by the Money Box team and we will be sharing these with you.

Another £7 billion off welfare spending – on top of the £11 billion announced in the June Budget. But who will it affect and who has escaped the cuts?

A payday loan company admits that thousands of non-customers have had their ID stolen so thieves could take out loans in their name and make off with the money. The first the victims know about it is when a debt collector calls for payments on a loan they have never had.

The Government confirms the Equitable Life settlement is around £1.5 bn. But has already decided one group who will get full compensation leaving less than £1 bn for the rest.

Good news – or not quite as bad as feared news – for 9500 customers of the Presbyterian Mutual Society who could have lost everything (£300 million) and now will only lose something after the Treasury and others stump up some compensation.

We may run out of time part way through that long agenda but we will squeeze in what we can before the fader is pulled down. Find out by tuning in just after noon on Saturday. Or hear the repeat at nine pm on Sunday. Or log on and listen anytime on our website www.bbc.co.uk/moneybox. There you can also read web pieces, download transcripts, follow links, and send us stories or ideas you want us to look into and Have Your Say on ID theft and getting bills for things you didn’t borrow.

Best wishes,

Paul

PS don’t forget the programme trail on Breakfast on BBC 1 between 0845 and 0900 on Saturday.

e-mail Paul Lewis