Bucci & Dix

Unconscionable Premarital Agreement

In Chaplain v. Chaplain, the Virginia Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court's holding that a premarital agreement was enforceable.  Husband, a Virginia native with a twenty million dollar fortune, married Wife, a Moroccan immigrant of limited means.  Prior to marriage, Husband arranged for Wife to endorse a premarital agreement, telling Wife, whose literacy was described as "able to read English on a Chinese menu," that she was signing marriage papers.  The agreement waived equitable distribution in the event of a divorce and awarded wife only $100,000, if she was still married and living with Husband at the time of this death.  Husband made no disclosures about his wealth, telling Wife only that he was "not a wealthy man."  While the trial court did not observe any unconscionable aspects to the agreement, the Virginia Court of Appeals disagreed noting the gross disparity in the distribution and the circumstances under which Wife signed the agreement.  The trial court will now have a second chance to determine how to properly distribute the marital estate.