Wife Successfully Gets Postnuptial Agreement Voided in Florida Family Law Case

Generally speaking, the court will uphold a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that was voluntarily entered into by both parties, even if one party is severely disadvantaged by the agreement. Nonetheless, you must be able to demonstrate that the agreement was voluntarily entered into by both parties. That’s why it’s so important to have a skilled attorney draft your prenup. If you can’t establish voluntary consent, then your prenup could be tossed by the court. That’s exactly what happened in the case of Casto v. Casto. In this article, the Largo, FL, family law attorneys at Cairns Law, P.A., will discuss the case and why it matters to have an attorney draft the agreement.

Background of the case 

Casto v. Casto involved a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Casto, who had been married and divorced once before they remarried. Ten years into their second marriage, the Castos signed a postnuptial agreement, which is similar to a prenuptial agreement, but it’s executed during the marriage as opposed to before. According to the agreement, the wife would receive the couple’s Fort Lauderdale home and $100,000, along with other benefits such as paid mortgage payments for one year and health insurance.

Ultimately, the husband filed for divorce around one year after the agreement was signed. The wife contested the validity of the agreement. She claimed she signed under duress and lacked adequate knowledge of the husband’s assets and income. The case made it all the way to the Florida Supreme Court before reaching a reconciliation.

The trial court’s ruling 

The original case was decided in favor of the wife. The court invalidated the postnuptial agreement on the basis of three grounds:

• Inadequate financial disclosure – The wife was not sufficiently informed of the husband’s income or assets, nor did she have independent knowledge of them when she signed the agreement.

• Lack of competent counsel – The wife lacked adequate legal counsel when she signed the agreement.
• Unfair and inequitable – The agreement was deemed to be “unconscionable” by the court, meaning that it was unfair and unreasonable to the extent that it “shocked the conscience” of the court.

Ultimately, the trial court awarded the wife $1.5 million in alimony, payable over a five-year period.

The Florida Supreme Court’s ruling

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the trial court and ruled that the postnuptial agreement was void (invalid). There are two main reasons the Florida Supreme Court decided to set aside any marital agreement. First, there existed fraud, deceit, duress, coercion, misrepresentation, or overreaching. Second, the challenging spouse lacked sufficient knowledge of the other party’s assets or income. The court also ruled that a lack of competent counsel by itself was enough to invalidate the agreement.

Talk to a Largo, FL, Family Law Attorney Today

Cairns Law, P.A., represents the interests of Largo or Clearwater residents who want to draft a prenuptial agreement. It is imperative that you have a Largo family lawyer look over the agreement. Otherwise, it could be tossed.

Source:

law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1987/66325-0.html