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  • Prenup invalid?

    Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. My father was married about 10 years ago, and at that time he married a woman who had no real assets. My dad does have assets, including rental properties and RRSPs. He wanted a prenup, and they had one drafted and both parties willingly singed.

    Now, they are going through a divorce, and his wife wants to rip apart the prenup. Her lawyer is saying that the prenup is invalid because there was no disclosure of assets at the time. There is, however, a clause in the prenup that states that both parties waive that.

    She is after a large sum of monthly support payments, as well as equalization on the increase in value of his properties and savings. She has no assets still, and is fully capable of working (including being able to work at a higher paid job but chooses not to).

    Dad is on a pension and technically makes less than she does...how likely is this to side in favour of her?

    Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

  • #2
    She will have to argue that her waiving of financial disclosure is somehow invalid. The onus would be on her to prove she was coerced or manipulated into signing the agreement.

    Must best suggestion is get a good lawyer and let them deal with it.

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    • #3
      Thank you, they both have lawyers, although is it true that the prenup will be thrown out due to the lack of discourse? Isn't this a legal requirement for the prenup?

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      • #4
        Originally posted by wondering_legal View Post
        Thank you, they both have lawyers, although is it true that the prenup will be thrown out due to the lack of discourse? Isn't this a legal requirement for the prenup?
        Like in many other scenarios, people can agree to do lots of things, include waive financial disclosure.

        Generally, they both should have disclosed their assets to each other. But if she saw his financial statements and then refused to sign the prenup, your dad could've refused to marry her. The both waived there entitlement to receive financial statements.

        She will have to argue that the only reason she waived that right was because he lied to her about his finances, saying he had much less then he did. Essentially, hiding his net worth.

        But the onus will be on her to prove he lied to her and provide proof. If they each had independant legal counsel, or if they waved their right to independant legal advice (ILA), she is going to have an uphill batter. If they used the same lawyer (like his lawyer) and didn't wave their rights to ILA, her argument becomes stronger.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by wondering_legal View Post
          ... his wife wants to rip apart the prenup....
          People suck.

          Good luck to your dad, I hope she gets less than nothing!

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          • #6
            I quite agree with Hammerdad's analysis.

            Essentially it come down to this: There is no black and white legislatiive rule. They have to each argue their positions. Does the wife have an argument that she was coerced? Does the husband have an arguement that he genuinely felt he had received an agreement with pre-nup?

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            • #7
              Thanks everyone, she willingly signed the prenup but not sure if she had an independent lawyer at that time. At the time, everyone was aware that Dad wouldn't marry her without the prenup, because he had worked his whole life to save money for retirement and for us, and his grandchildren. She went into it willingly, and he wouldn't have married her without it. On top of that, yes, he did feel that he genuinely received an agreement with the prenup. He only found out that there may be issues with how it is written within the last month since this they have decided to be divorced.

              Thank you for the answers, I am trying to get all of the info for my stressed out dad as I can...

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