Fighting a prenup

[Rod27]

Married for 2.5 years to my stbx and her attorney is fighting the prenup. I originally gave it to her by email 6 days before, and we signed a more favorable one(I took off $100k) for her the day before. Her attorney is stating it was done under "fraud, duress, and coercion", which is BS.....probably standard intimidation lingo. We had sections for each of our assets but no tax returns. I'm a doctor and she is a nurse and we dated for 4-5 years prior, so she knew me well before we were married. I didnt put my 2 rental properties cuz of the real estate crash meaning they dont have much equity. My question is will the prenup hold up?....I'm in Florida.

[Fatheroffour]

Should have done it months before.

It is very likely not to hold up.

[defaultuser]

I have heard that if you set the wedding date before the prenup, then it *could* be considered as signed in duress. The argument being, if she didn't sign, then she'd have to cancel the wedding which would be too much to handle or something.

I think your best bet is to look up caselaw. Use google advanced scholar search. Here are a couple:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... s_sdt=4,10

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... s_sdt=4,10

From a practical standpoint, I'm thinking that if you have money to go after, a lawyer will very much want to use your money to get your money. I'm guessing there is a motion for attorney fees as well.

Have you asked for a settlement offer? I'm guessing she wants 90% of your net worth or something.

[defaultuser]

Here's a good one. I think you're screwed. Sorry buddy.

First, the timing of the signing of the document indicates that Gayle's signature was the product of duress. Two days before the wedding Gayle was presented with a document, the actual terms of which were previously unknown to her and which contained no information about Philip's finances. She had only one day to seek counsel from her own attorney, to make an independent evaluation of the contract, or to cancel her wedding. The only rational conclusion is that her signature was the product of unwarranted compulsion, and the document should have been set aside on that basis. Lutgert v. Lutgert, 338 So.2d 1111 (Fla. 2d DCA 1976).

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... s_sdt=4,10

[tsawyer]

I don't think you are screwed. You have a signed prenup document. She signed it; it is a legally binding document. The whole "I would have had to cancel the wedding b.s." is just that, b.s.

You need to get the best attorney you can, and fight this < edited >.

[Fatheroffour]

I don't think you are screwed. You have a signed prenup document. She signed it; it is a legally binding document. The whole "I would have had to cancel the wedding b.s." is just that, b.s.

You need to get the best attorney you can, and fight this < edited >.

I take it that you have not researched the issue .

If I sign a piece of paper saying I'll give you a million dollars that doesn't mean its a legally enforceable document or that you will ever get a dime.

[Bubba Seal]

To the OP, you probably need to work out a settlement and not get this in court.

My understanding on prenups is they should be signed 3-6 monthes prior to the wedding, you dated this person for what 4-5 years, and then got it signed 6 days before the wedding, I would consider that done under duress, just as an outsider.

Im just curious why you didnt get it signed way before the wedding if you dated for so long? To me it sounds like you set a wedding date, and then got cold feet on your part, made her sign the thing cause you had this big nice wedding planned.

Just my 2 cents, as I said at first, I think your best option is to work out some sort of settlement with her and get it done as quickly as possible.

Good Luck

[dobradavid]

The prenup is certainly at risk (I had my done well before) but with a 2.5 year marriage (mine is 1.8 years) your assets should not be much at risk.

Married for 2.5 years to my stbx and her attorney is fighting the prenup. I originally gave it to her by email 6 days before, and we signed a more favorable one(I took off $100k) for her the day before. Her attorney is stating it was done under "fraud, duress, and coercion", which is BS.....probably standard intimidation lingo. We had sections for each of our assets but no tax returns. I'm a doctor and she is a nurse and we dated for 4-5 years prior, so she knew me well before we were married. I didnt put my 2 rental properties cuz of the real estate crash meaning they dont have much equity. My question is will the prenup hold up?....I'm in Florida.

[Rod27]

To the OP, you probably need to work out a settlement and not get this in court.

My understanding on prenups is they should be signed 3-6 monthes prior to the wedding, you dated this person for what 4-5 years, and then got it signed 6 days before the wedding, I would consider that done under duress, just as an outsider.

Im just curious why you didnt get it signed way before the wedding if you dated for so long? To me it sounds like you set a wedding date, and then got cold feet on your part, made her sign the thing cause you had this big nice wedding planned.

Just my 2 cents, as I said at first, I think your best option is to work out some sort of settlement with her and get it done as quickly as possible.

Good Luck

Her attorney is a pitbull and leveraging as much as he can...that's his job. Under duress is a curious question cuz i paid for everything, bought a house 8 months before the wedding and she lived in it for free, i moved in after the wedding, and her family only drove 3 hours to get here. We then moved into my condo near my boat a little less than halfway thru the marriage. I wanted to get divorced early on but we tried to work it out and now have a 9 month old son. Child support isnt an issue. Ill spare u the details. Not sure what his argument will be.

Couple of attorneys ive talked to say the court likes to enforce contracts. My question was more about tax returns not being submitted. All my assets were acquired before the marriage. It was never a secret that i was a doctor and i made a good living in comparison to her. The attorney who wrote it says they are mostly needed for postnuptuals....i guess that means divorce.

Again im in Florida.

[BartSimpson]

His arguement will be that she was too close to the wedding to sufficently consider the nature of the Pre-nup, given that canceling would have cost so much embarassment and humiliation among her family and friends.

So, you likely did not have an attorney - because you would have been advised at the time that it was flawed - and she either had an attorney who told her it wouldn't hold water due to the timing, or worse she did not have her own counsel to advise her at the time of signing.

Tell us about the independant counsel she had prior to signing, and what your attorney said when you had the pre-nup written.

edit: you wrote more prior to my response. If you have attorneys telling you it will be enforced like a contract - you are getting horrible attorneys who are milking you for money. This is a no-brainer to be thrown out, I wouldn't waste much money trying to enforce it.