Pennsylvania Husband and Wife enter a prenuptial agreement … the day before their wedding (please don’t try that here in Florida).
The prenup precludes either spouse from receiving temporary or permanent alimony.
The antenuptial agreement also allows a spouse to recover their attorney’s fees for enforcing the agreement against the other spouse’s breach.
Approximately ten years after the wedding, the couple splits and Wife seeks alimony.
At trial, the Pennsylvania family court denied Wife’s alimony request based on the prenuptial agreement.
Husband seeks attorney’s fees of about $25,000.
The family court denies Husband’s claim for attorney’s fees.
On appeal, the intermediate level appellate court reverses, holding that Husband is entitled to his “reasonable attorney’s fees”, whether the agreement specified “reasonableness” as a criterion or not.
The appellate court remands for the family court to determine whether the $25,000 requested was indeed “reasonable”.
Read more in this JD Supra article: Husband Permitted to Seek Attorney’s Fees Against Wife for Her Failure to Comply with Prenuptial Agreement .
