Both people signing a Georgia prenuptial agreement must fully and fairly disclose their finances to the other beforehand.
The Duty Is Automatic
In Blige v. Blige, 283 Ga. 65 (2008), the Georgia Supreme Court held that Georgia law “imposes an affirmative duty of disclosure on both parties to an antenuptial agreement” and that “the law writes into every antenuptial agreement a provision requiring both parties to disclose all material facts.” You do not have to bargain for disclosure. It is already a term of your agreement, and the burden of proving it was made falls on the spouse asking the court to enforce the agreement.
In Blige itself, the husband brought his bride-to-be to an attorney he had hired for her the day before the wedding, and she signed. The agreement gave him 19.5 acres of land “together with any house or structure which may be situated upon said property.” He had $150,000 in cash hidden away to build a home there and never told her. The trial court set the agreement aside.
Listing Assets Is Not Enough
In Dodson v. Dodson, 298 Ga. 117 (2015), the agreement listed all of the husband’s assets but gave no values for them, including his bank accounts and two closely held businesses. He argued the law required only that he list what he owned. The Georgia Supreme Court called that “an incorrect and overly narrow interpretation of the law,” holding the disclosure was “neither full, because Wife had no real knowledge of the value of Husband’s bank accounts, nor fair, because Husband never allowed Wife to have reasonable access to those accounts.”
The Safest Method
Attaching financial statements showing both parties’ assets, liabilities, and income is not required. But Dodson described it as “the most effective method of satisfying the [disclosure] obligation in most circumstances.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!