The credibility of prenuptial agreements might be at stake.
In a precedent-setting case, a New York State Appellate Court threw out a prenuptial agreement between a man and a woman, based on the woman’s claim that she was fraudulently led into it.
The 1998 prenup between a millionaire husband and his soon-to-be wife was signed four days before marriage by the woman because the man said he’d tear the agreement up after they had children (they had three).
Because of the context of the situation: husband’s failure to present the agreement to his wife earlier, the promise he made that the woman relied on (and didn’t keep), and the coercian in which he forced her to sign it or not get married, the judge threw the prenuptial out.
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Even though the prenuptial agreements were signed with legal counsel present, the agreement lacked validity in this case. Prenups are powerful contracts: they protect both parties’ assets, including “businesses, real estate, securities, and inheritances,” and usually take months of negotiation and deliberation. They’re carefully thought out agreements, not usually entered just before marriage as in this case.
The ramifications of Petrakis v. Petrakis might mean that prenuptial agreements are not the binding legal contracts couples once thought they were.
Related texts: The Prenuptial Agreement Code of Thailand
Prenuptial Agreements in the US, Thailand and Europe Compared
Related blog posts: Judge Throws Out Prenup in Landmark Case
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