Florida Family Law Case Shows How Prenuptial Agreements Require Full Financial Disclosure

Most often, a prenuptial agreement is made to protect your assets and set expectations regarding your finances during and before your marriage. Prenuptial agreements are indeed powerful tools, but they are not automatically upheld in the state of Florida. In fact, the state scrutinizes these contracts in order to make sure both parties are on the same page when it comes to making the agreement. In one case involving family law in Florida, the court chose to dismiss a prenuptial agreement because one party was not provided with full financial disclosure. In this article, we will learn more about this case. 

Background of the case 

In the aforementioned case, the couple signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding. This was to ensure that their properties were divided according to their wishes if the marriage should end in divorce. This is similar to other prenuptial agreements, which usually restrict one party from making claims on the other’s property.

However, due to the deterioration of their marriage and commencement of divorce proceedings, the former wife claimed that the prenuptial agreement was not legally valid. She argued that she did not receive enough information about the husband’s properties before signing the agreement. This is evident from the fact that the husband did not disclose to the wife the nature and value of his assets.

It is a requirement under Florida law that a prenuptial agreement be signed with knowledge of the other party’s financial information. An agreement is considered unreasonable if one party was not given fair disclosure about the other party’s assets. 

The appeal 

At this point, the lower court made a ruling in favor of the husband to enforce the agreement. However, the wife appealed the ruling to the Second District Court of Appeal in Florida.

During the appeal, the court was mainly concerned with whether the husband had given adequate financial information prior to the execution of the agreement. According to the court, the two spouses did not have to give an account of their assets with specific dollar amounts; however, they were required to give enough information regarding their assets in general.

In the aforementioned case, the court found that the information given to the wife was inadequate. It did not include enough details about the assets that were owned by the husband or their value. The wife did not have enough information about the financial rights she was giving up by signing the agreement.

The court found that the agreement was not valid and should not be enforced. The court thus reversed the ruling of the lower court and remanded the case back to the trial court for further consideration. 

Talk to a Tampa, FL, Family Law Attorney Today 

Faulkner Law Group, PLLC, represents the interests of Tampa residents who want to draft an enforceable prenuptial agreement. Call our Tampa family lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps right away.

Source:

casemine.com/judgement/us/59148429add7b049344b295f