Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Full Disclosure Required in Prenuptial Agreements

Steve Worrall, who maintains the Georgia Family Law Blog, recently wrote about a unanimous opinion written by the Georgia Supreme Court's Chief Justice in Blige v. Blige, S07F1817. This case holds that the trial court did not abuse discretion in setting aside the parties’ prenuptial agreement, since the evidence supported the trial court’s finding that the husband failed to make a full and fair disclosure of his assets, income and liabilities prior to execution of the agreement.

The parties did not live together before the marriage and the husband actively hid the fact that he had $150K in cash in his possession when the parties signed the agreement.

In Iowa, prenuptial agreements are generally upheld; however, like the Georgia Supreme Court emphasized, there must be written disclosure of the parties' full financial picture prior to execution. In addition, to increase the legitimacy of a prenuptial agreement, it should be entered into well-before the big wedding day. For other tips contact a family law attorney.