Cazoo’s Guide to Creating a Brake Up Clause
Protecting your car in the event of a relationship breakdown might not be the most romantic topic, but it’s a practical one. A 'Car-Nup' – a nuptial agreement specifically for your vehicle – can help avoid disputes and provide clarity if things don’t go as planned. Whether you’re cohabiting, married, or in a civil partnership, this guide explains how a Car-Nup works, why it’s beneficial, and how to ensure it’s legally sound. From identifying your car to defining ownership, planning ahead can save you time, money, and stress down the road.
The Cazoo editorial team
Published on 13 January 2026 | 12 mins read
Apart from your home, your car may be among the most expensive purchases of your lifetime - and equally vulnerable if your relationship comes to an unexpected end. Unromantic as it may seem, if your car is important to you, it makes sense to plan for the breakup while you still have control.
When a marriage ends in divorce (and this goes for civil partnerships too) the Court has power to redistribute property between the two of you, including investments, pension rights and other financial assets, regardless of who bought them, paid for them, or brought them into the marriage. This extends to personal property (also called "chattels") such as jewellery or furniture - even your car, if it is worth enough to be argued about.
The Court may order chattels to be kept by one spouse, or transferred to the other, or in extreme circumstances sold and the proceeds divided. How can you avoid this risk?
Judges are busy people. They would rather not spend time deciding disputes about chattels, however much treasured by one partner or the other. Even after court proceedings begin, it is not too late to talk, maybe for mediation. Saving the courts' and lawyers' time can save you money! Divorce courts can override any agreement you make, but they will pay some respect to a formal agreement drawn up by professionals before the marriage and indeed, after.
This is where the 'car' Nuptial agreement comes in - a Nuptial agreement that specifically deals with the car.
Indeed, an agreement dealing with the car also has its place if you plan to cohabit without marrying, when the Court has more limited powers - particularly if there are no children - but disputes can still be expensive and upsetting.
Please don't be tempted into doing it yourself to save cost. Drawing up a contract is lawyers' work because of the "unknown unknowns" - the mistakes you might make without knowing it, which lawyers can then make money by sorting out after the event.
Unless your vehicle is particularly palatial, and you plan to live in it, you will have other aspects of your relationship to agree about too. Most often the Nuptial agreement will not just deal with the car alone, but will form part of a more comprehensive cohabitation agreement, if you are not marrying, or a pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreement if you are.
What is a Nuptial and cohabitation agreement?
A couple who are planning to enter a marriage or civil partnership may decide to enter into an agreement before they get married or after, these are known as pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements (“Nuptial Agreements”). The same applies for couples who do not marry and want to live/cohabit together, instead.
The agreement can set out what they intend to happen to their money and property if their marriage/civil partnership/relationship were to end, in particular, the car. The legal rules that apply for Nuptial Agreements come from a Supreme Court decision in 2010.
The case of Radmacher v Granatino states: ‘The court should give effect to a nuptial agreement that is freely entered into by each party with a full appreciation of its implications unless in the circumstances prevailing it would not be fair to hold the parties to their agreement’.
Why enter into an agreement?
Each person has their own reasons for entering into an agreement. You may be very organised with your finances or you may want clarity in the event that your relationship breaks down. Having an agreement in place, does not mean you are more likely to separate. An agreement might be particularly beneficial where :
- one of you has greater capital or income than the other
- there are assets owned by one person prior to the marriage/cohabitation
- it would be beneficial to define what is considered to be ‘matrimonial property’ or ‘non-matrimonial property’, for example in relation to business assets owned by one of you prior to the marriage
- there are children from a previous marriage/relationship and one party wants to protect assets for the purposes of inheritance planning
- there is a car of value that one person wants to protect
How can you deal with your car?
The point of a Car-Nup is to save arguments if your relationship ends. If by then you are married or have a child together, then the family court can alter the ownership of a car, like any other asset. However, if you already have a fair and sensible agreement the judges can take that into account, though they are not bound to follow it in every way.
Your Car-Nup should:
- Clearly identify the car by make, model and registration number.
- Say whether the same agreement is to apply to any replacement car
- State when the car was bought, what you paid for it, and which of you paid it
- State which of you is the registered keeper, and whether that one is to own the car or it will be joint property
Always consult a solicitor about your Car-Nup, whether it will stand alone or be part of a pre-nuptial, post-nuptial or cohabitation agreement. The solicitor can draw it up, making sure it is properly worded, and properly signed and witnessed as a deed.
The same solicitor may be able to advise both of you, or may suggest that one of you should get separate advice from a different firm. Either way, if the Car-Nup shows that you both had legal advice and neither of you was put under pressure to agree, then it is more likely to be upheld if it goes to court.