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Vanessa Friend & Robert Jackson examine Timokhin v Timokhina & the dangers of jurisdiction
- English courts may give effect to a nuptial agreement that complies with the principles set out in Radmacher v Granatino when deciding ancillary relief.
- However, if they are not deciding ancillary relief, English courts have neither the obligation nor jurisdiction to determine whether a nuptial agreement is fair and to make or refuse financial awards accordingly.
- Where a foreign nuptial agreement is in dispute, and a claimant brings a debt claim to enforce its terms, a defendant should seriously consider commencing Part III proceedings in the Family Division of the High Court or the Family Court in response.
In the recent case of Timokhin v Timokhina [2026] EWHC 439 (KB), the claimant, Alexander Timokhin, and the defendant, Anna Timokhina, are Russian nationals who married in 2004. They signed a prenuptial agreement (PNA) in June 2017 and separated in July 2017. They have two children. They were
