THERE are two big celebrity weddings looming - and both of them on the same day.

Friday, April 8 sees the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles at Windsor Town Hall register office and, over in Weatherfield, Ken and Deirdre marry for the second time. In both cases, the question of a pre-nuptial agreement needs to be discussed.

Karen Stephen reports.

MANY people may view the idea of entering into a marriage with a contract that deals with what happens should it end in divorce as calling into question the couple's commitment to each other.

A document stating what is "mine is mine" is hardly conducive to marital bliss. And the very words "pre-nuptial agreement" immediately conjure up images of the likes of Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas' financially fired contract - an extra million dollars or so for every baby she has.

But with one in three marriages ending in divorce, is it the way forward?

And who is to say that pre-nuptial agreements are solely for the rich and famous? Someone"s hard-earned £30,000 is surely relative to a Hollywood A-lister"s $30 million?

"Pre-Nuptials are beneficial for marriages between couples where one has substantial wealth and the other one doesn't," says Nick Lewis of Kippax Beaumont Lewis Solicitors on Mawdsley Street in Bolton.

"After divorce men, on average, regain their financial status in four years, women never do. So, for some parties, a pre-nuptial agreement would be recommended."

While pre-nuptial agreements are atypical in this country, when they are employed it is usually between those couples where, say, one partner has assets acquired over the years by his or her family.

Mr Lewis says: "It is perhaps understandable that if one party has financial assets built up before meeting the other, or handed down through family generations, they may be prudent about any possible "gold diggers"."

But are pre-nuptial agreements legal in the United Kingdom?

Well, they currently have no actual legal standing and, says Mr Lewis: "The divorce courts will always have the last word in the division of all matrimonial property and would ignore any pre-nuptial agreement if they thought it was in any way unreasonable to either of the parties involved, particularly regarding to the maintenance and housing of children.

"The Law Society says the agreement is evidential only."

So, for example, regardless of whose name a couple"s property is in, a court may order it to be transferred to the other. This applies to all property that is owned separately or jointly.

In February 1998, Geoffrey Hoon, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Lord Chancellor"s Department gave a boost to pre-nuptial agreements when he announced that there were "significant advantages" to legally binding pre-nuptial contracts.

His comments were in the context of seeking ways in which the government could achieve savings in the huge legal aid bill and to reduce the time and stress involved in lengthy divorce court proceedings.

Mr Lewis says: "Although pre-nuptial agreements are not the answer to all divorce problems, there is consensus that, for short, childless marriages, they could have a distinct benefit."

But what about "agreements" for unmarried people? Those who choose to live together and not go through any legal ceremony?

The law has some rather startling news for them.

The widespread belief that long-standing unmarried couples - the term "common law wife" is a popular one - have rights is a myth. In fact, the last recorded date that a common law wife had any prerogative at all was in 1747. Today, they have no rights at all.

Mr Lewis confirms this: "Bearing in mind that the number of partnerships that break down among couples who are not married is greater than married couples, perhaps they should think seriously about taking out some kind of agreement such as a co-habitation agreement."

But what if, at any given point into the marriage both parties decide they no longer want to abide by the pre-nuptial agreement originally drawn up? "It can simply be ripped up," says Mr Lewis.

So what of the future for pre-nuptial agreements?

Well, it seems despite the government"s forward thinking, the pressure on the parliamentary timetable makes it unlikely that recognition of pre-nuptial contracts will make the statute books in the near future.