On September 10, 2012, our Atlanta Divorce firm was pleased to find that we won a significant Georgia Supreme Court Case. The case of Fox v. Fox, Georgia Supreme Court Case Number S12A0672, was an interlocutoryappeal, meaning that the Georgia Supreme Court took the case up before the trial court entered a final order. At issue in this case was whether the Court would enforce a "Premarital Agreement"that the parties signed prior to their marriage during their now pending divorce case. Atlanta Divorce Attorneys Patrick L. Meriwether and Melissa A. Tracy represented the party, in this case thehusband, who did not want the agreement enforced.
At the trial court level, Attorneys Meriwether and Tracy were successful in convincing the court that the Agreement should not be enforced. The Wife's counsel then requested and was granted theright to petition the Georgia Supreme Court to take up the case. Ultimately, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision, holding that the "Premarital Agreement" was a contractin contemplation of marriage (and not divorce) and, as such, it was not properly attested by two witnesses as required by Georgia law.
This case should be a lesson to anyone considering a prenuptial agreement prior to marriage. The parties to the case did not seek the assistance of attorneys when creating the Agreement inquestion. Although not all prenuptial agreements will fail for the lack of following the strict two-witness requirement, a skilled family law attorney can ensure that your agreement is notsubject to any pitfalls if it ever needs to be enforced during a divorce. If you are thinking about a prenuptial agreement, our team of Atlanta family law attorneys can help guide you through the process and ensure that your agreement complies with the law.
By Melissa Tracy, Associate Attorney, Meriwether & Tharp, LLC