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Family Law

FAMILY LAW OUTLINE



CHAPTER 1: MARITAL AND COHABITATION AGREEMENTS

A. MARITAL AGREEMENTS



Fletcher v. Fletcher (Prenuptial agreement executed one day before the wedding. She declined legal counsel. Attorney did not fully delineate to the wife exactly what rights would accrue to her from the marriage and how the agreement would affect those rights.)

Holding: Court upheld the agreement. When an ante-nuptial agreement provides disproportionately less than the party would have received under an equitable distribution, the party financially disadvantaged must have a meaningful opportunity to consult with counsel.

Reasoning: Public policy allows enforcement of prenuptial agreements.

Agreements are valid and enforceable if

(1) They have been entered into freely without fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching;

- Spouse should have a meaningful opportunity to seek counsel.

- Here, the wife could have had counsel but refused it.

- Even though executed the day before the wedding, it could have been postponed had the wife wished to consult counsel b/c of the small size and informality of the impending wedding.

- Also some evidence from which to conclude that the wife read the agreement and understood its contents prior to agreeing to it.

(2) If there was full disclosure, or full knowledge and understanding of the nature, value and extent of the prospective spouse's property; and

- When the ante nuptial agreement provides disproportionately less than the party challenging it would have received under an equitable retribution, the burden is on the one claiming the validity of the contract to show that the other party entered into it with the full knowledge or disclosure of the assets of the proportion (this is b/c of the fiduciary relationship b/w the parties).

- Here, the husband added a financial disclosure statement to the antenuptial agreement, which the...