In Georgia, for a prenuptial agreement to be deemed enforceable it must pass a three-part test set forth in Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635 (1982). This three-part test, as restated in Blige v. Blige, 283 Ga. 65, 67 (2008), reads as follows:
“[T]he party seeking enforcement bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that: (1) the antenuptial agreement was not the result of fraud, duress, mistake, misrepresentation, or nondisclosure of material facts; (2) the agreement is not unconscionable; and (3) taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances, including changes beyond the parties’ contemplation when the agreement was executed, enforcement of the antenuptial agreement would be neither unfair nor unreasonable.”
The party seeking to enforce the pre-nupt carries the burden of demonstrating the above mentioned factors.
Under Adams v. Adams, 278 Ga. 521 (2004), to satisfy the first prong of the Scherer test, the enforcing party must show “a full and fair disclosure of the assets of the partiesprior to the execution of the [antenuptial] agreement.” Courts have held that a failure to disclose yearly income may amount to the nondisclosure of a material fact. To avoid such problems courts have endorsed financial statements and statements of income as “the most effective method[s] of satisfying the . . . disclosure obligation in most circumstances.” Blige at 69, n.12.
Satisfying the second and third prongs of the Scherer test requires that the party seeking to enforce the pre-nup demonstrate that the agreement is not clearly unconscionable and that its enforcement would not be unfair.
By Connor Alexander, Law Clerk, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC