Hypotheticals by Manny Wood. Published in the Coffs Coast Advocate on 1 August 2015.
John met Juliette via an on-line dating service. John was a wealthy property developer in his late 60s. Juliette, was in her mid-30s and resided overseas when they met. Juliette had no assets of any significant value and had a poor grasp of the English language.
Before John and Juliette were married, John asked her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement.
Juliette received independent legal advice, which is a necessity in creating a valid pre-nuptial agreement. The advice Juliette received was; “This is the worst agreement I’ve ever seen. Don’t sign.”
Nonetheless, Juliette proceeded to execute the document and they were married shortly thereafter.
John and Juliette separated four years later and Juliette commenced action in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, challenging the validity of the pre-nup on the grounds of duress and seeking $1 million by way of a property settlement.
Unfortunately, John died from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma before the trial was finalized.
After a lengthy adjournment, John’s son and daughter from a previous marriage, were substituted as the respondents in the proceedings and the trial continued.
With the assistance of an interpreter, Juliette gave evidence that she loved John and wanted to have a child with him. She claimed that she wanted to marry him and for that to happen she needed to sign the agreement. The court accepted that John would not negotiate the terms of the agreement and that if Juliette did not sign the agreement, there would be no wedding.
The court found that Juliette’s “powerlessness” arose from her lack of financial equality, her lack of permanent status in Australia, the prospect of motherhood and her emotional preparation for marriage. The court also found that in the circumstances there was an inequality of bargaining power.
The court ultimately decided that Juliette had signed the agreement under duress and ordered that the agreement be set aside. John’s estate was also ordered to pay Juliette’s costs.
The effect of the judgement was that the pre-nup could not be relied upon by John’s estate and Juliette was able to proceed with her $1 million property settlement claim. Her claim has not yet been determined.
