The general rule with prenups in the UK has always been that you should ideally draw one up, so that any divorce court would know what you initially had in mind. However, they are legally allowed to completely ignore it.

That's what Katrin Radmacher found when her divorce went through the High Court, and the prenup was thrown out in favour of a £5.85 million settlement for her husband.

Now Katrin wasn't going to suffer hideously from the decision. She is, after all, worth £100 million, but she was miffed enough to take the decision to the Court of Appeal, and that's when history was made.

The court found in her favour, and reduced her ex-hubby's share of the wealth to £1 million. And the judge said it was 'increasingly unrealistic' to ignore prenups.

This particular case is set to rumble on as they appeal against appeals and appeal against those. But it could well pave the way to prenups being recognised in the UK.

Romantics will be shocked. Surely marriage is for life, and these agreements reduce the whole thing to money and make it seem like a rather temporary and tawdry affair.

But anyone who has ever been within a mile of a divorce appreciates that these things are best agreed when you are both friends, and you have each other's best interests at heart, rather than when you're spitting blood and planning to take each other to the cleaners.

So my advice: if you're getting married and there is any wealth at all in the marriage, or in the wider family, or one of you has more earning power than the other, then get a prenup.

And if you know anyone in this situation, make yourself unpopular by suggesting it to them.

Sure it's not the most romantic engagement present, but it could prove to be the most valuable one any couple could get.