MARY GERALDINE SEDER JACKSON, APPELLANT/CROSS APPELLEE,
v.
JAMES P. SEDER, APPELLEE/CROSS APPELLANT

Fla. 4th DCA | 1985-04-10
No. 84-34
ANSTEAD, C.J., and WALDEN, J., concur.
467 So. 2d 422 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1985) Caution
Cited by 11 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

This appeal concerns whether an antenuptial agreement is enforceable when the wife had knowledge of her husband's assets and entered into it freely, despite suffering financial loss from the marriage. The court upheld the agreement, reversing the trial court's decision to set it aside.


Holding

The antenuptial agreement is enforceable and valid. The trial court erred in setting the agreement aside based on overreaching, shock to the conscience, or lack of consideration, as the wife's execution of the agreement fell squarely within the standards established in Del Vecchio v. Del Vecchio, which require fair and reasonable provisions for the wife or full disclosure of the husband's assets.


Headnotes

[1] An antenuptial agreement is valid if it contains a fair and reasonable provision for the wife, or, absent such provision, if there was full and frank disclosure of the hu…

[2] Inadequacy of provision for a wife in an antenuptial agreement does not, in itself, vitiate the agreement.

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Key Quotes

“A valid antenuptial agreement contemplates a fair and reasonable provision therein for the wife, or, absent such provision, a full and frank disclosure to the wife, before the signing of the agreement, of the husband's worth, or, absent such disclosure, a general and approximate knowledge by her of the prospective husband's property.”

Establishes the legal standard for enforceability of antenuptial agreements under Del Vecchio v. Del Vecchio

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Facts & Procedural History

Seventeen days before marriage, the husband provided the wife with an antenuptial agreement prepared by his attorney, along with a financial statement…

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Opinion of the Court
DELL, Judge.

DELL, Judge.

This appeal concerns the enforceability of an antenuptial agreement.

Approximately seventeen days before their marriage, appellee gave appellant an antenuptial agreement, which his attorney had prepared, along with a financial statement. Appellant, who had consulted with an attorney a few months earlier when appellee first mentioned an antenuptial agreement, chose not to have the agreement reviewed by independent counsel. The agreement provided that each party agreed to waive, release, and forgo any claim for alimony, any claim to the property of the other, or any claim against the estate of the other. The record demonstrates that appellant knew and appreciated the effect of an antenuptial agreement, and that she entered into the agreement freely and voluntarily after full disclosure of appellee’s assets.

The trial court set the agreement aside, finding that appellee’s conduct amounted to overreaching, that the agreement shocked the conscience of the court, and that it lacked consideration. The trial court also found that appellant had disposed of certain items “so that she could reside with her husband,” and awarded her $5,000 as reimbursement for her losses.

Appellant contends that the trial court erred when it denied her claim for periodic alimony. Appellee cross appeals and contends the trial court erred when it set aside the antenuptial agreement.

We address the issue raised on cross appeal first. The Florida Supreme Court set forth the standards of a valid antenuptial agreement in Del Vecchio v. Del Vecchio, 143 So. 2d 17 (Fla.1962). A valid antenuptial agreement contemplates a fair and reasonable provision therein for the wife, or, absent such provision, a full and frank disclosure to the wife, before the signing of the agree-' ment, of the husband’s worth, or, absent such disclosure, a general and approximate knowledge by her of the prospective husband’s property....

Inadequacy of provision for the wife does not in itself vitiate an antenuptial agreement. If, when she signed the con-, tract freely and voluntarily, she had some understanding of her rights and had been fully informed by the husband as to his property or if, notwithstanding the husband’s failure to disclose, she had or reasonably should have had a general and approximate knowledge of the character and extent of his property she will be bound.

Id. at 20; see also Posner v. Posner, 233 So. 2d 381 (Fla.1970). Appellant’s execution of the antenuptial agreement falls squarely within the ambit of Del Vecchio. The record contains no evidence which supports the trial court’s conclusion that appellee’s conduct amounted to overreaching or that the agreement lacked consideration. Although we recognize that appellant suffered a loss by her remarriage,1 she did so with full knowledge of the consequences of her acts. Therefore, we hold that the trial court erred when it set aside the antenup-tial agreement and when it awarded appellant $5,000.

In view of our holding, we need not decide the issue concerning permanent alimony. Accordingly, we reverse and remand this case to the trial court with directions to vacate the award of $5,000. This holding does not preclude the trial court from awarding attorney’s fees to the wife pursuant to its reservation of jurisdiction. See Belcher v. Belcher, 271 So. 2d 7 (Fla.1972); Young v. Young, 322 So. 2d 594

(Fla. 4th DCA 1975); Mulhern v. Mulhern, 446 So. 2d 1124 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984).

REVERSED and REMANDED.

ANSTEAD, C.J., and WALDEN, J., concur. . Prior to this marriage, appellant received $700 per month permanent periodic alimony from her former husband.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Levy v. Levy, 483 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)
    …judgment, confirmed and reasserted as it was by the order of September 2,1983, provided ample jurisdictional authority for the trial court to assess fees for all the services rendered the wife below. See § 61.16, Fla.Stat. (1983); Jackson v. Seder, 467 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). II Although, in view of the unrebutted expert testimony which supports the [*457] award, Levy claims no error in the assessment of $50,000 as a reasonable fee for counsel’s services,3 he does argue that the award may not excee…
  • Patience Duttenhofer v. Duttenhofer, 474 So. 2d 251 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985)
  • Wright v. Millard B. Wright, 509 So. 2d 329 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
    …is paying alimony to two previous wives. Nevertheless, he did not secure the antenuptial agreement that would have placed Mrs. Wright on notice that she alone would be assuming the risk of loss in the event the marriage failed. Cf. Jackson v. Seder, 467 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 4th DCA), review denied, 479 So. 2d 118 (Fla.1985). Mrs. Wright has been hurled into the proverbial “gotcha” position by this court’s fashioning for the elusive Mr. Wright the equivalent of such an antenuptial agreement. He was not in need of,…
    1 / 2

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