WHEN FORMER ACTRESS Katie Chan Fook-sang wed multi-millionaire Michael Mak Shun-ming, she put her mark on the marriage certificate only after one other document had been safely signed and sealed: an agreement detailing what would happen should the union end in failure.
Although they are ever more common, prenuptial agreements still provoke argument: some say they signify a lack of trust or faith in a relationship, others see them as a sign of respect that may even allow the marriage to flourish.
When Chan and Mak tied the knot in 1989 after two years of courtship, she joined one of Hong Kong's wealthiest families. Mak's mother is Winnie Ho Yuen-kei, younger sister of casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, and his father - Mak revealed in June - is philanthropist Eric Hotung, grandson of tycoon Sir Robert Hotung.
Chan was by no means well off - her father was a scriptwriter and acting teacher and her mother a voice-over artist. She says she can't remember who suggested a 'prenup' first: Mak, his family or herself.
'It is fair for both of us. We signed the prenup to prove we respect this marriage and that we love each other,' says Chan, who at 40 is a year younger than her husband. 'I signed it to prove that I married him not for his background and that he married me not for my background; that we love each other.' She refuses to divulge the terms of the agreement.
A headline-grabbing Hong Kong divorce case, in which a wife may win a billion-dollar settlement, has renewed interest in the prenup. Last month, Mr Justice Michael Hartmann in the Court of First Instance granted a divorce to Yang Hsueh-chi, 68, from her tycoon husband William Mong Man-wai, 73, chairman of the Shun Hing Group electronics empire. A hearing into the settlement, concerning assets believed to be about $5 billion, is to be held in the High Court in July. A legal source told the Post last month that Yang, who married Mong in 1958, was fighting for a 'good share' of her husband's assets.
