New Jersey Appellate Division Upholds Trial Court’s Refusal to Enforce Provisions of Premarital Agreement

There are relatively few reported decisions in New Jersey that provide guidance with respect to the enforcement of prenuptial agreements. For this reason, each Appellate Division decision relating to prenuptial agreements is a matter of some importance.

In April, 2007, the New Jersey Appellate Division upheld a trial judge’s refusal to enforce certain terms of the parties’ New Jersey prenuptial agreement that dealt with contributions by the former husband to his savings plan. The New Jersey divorce judgment provided that the ex-husband's savings plan be subject to equitable distribution, despite language in the parties' New Jersey prenuptial agreement that provided otherwise.

The New Jersey divorce judge found that the husband’s increased contributions to the savings plan during the marriage were not foreseeable at the time the prenuptial agreement was signed. On that basis, the trial judge ruled that the section of the prenuptial agreement relating to ex-husband’s savings plan was unenforceable. Pattison v. Pattison, Jr., New Jersey App. Div., April 6, 2007.


By: Marc A. Rapaport, Esq.
Divorce Lawyer in New York and New Jersey
http://www.RapaportLaw.com
Providing legal assistance in divorce, custody, support and other family law matters.