Enforcement of Antenuptial Agreement; WCN Represents Beneficiaries of an Estate
Michael B. Cosentino
Situation
The parties dated for five years prior to marrying and had an understanding of each other’s assets. In 1987, immediately prior to the marriage, the parties executed an antenuptial agreement. One party then passed away and the widow claimed that she was entitled to her statutory share of his estate.
Action
The Decedent’s wife instituted action to recover a statutory share of certain assets that the Decedent possessed prior to the marriage claiming that she did not fully understand the value of the assets prior to entering into the antenuptial agreement. The widow claimed that had she known about the value of the assets she would not have entered into the agreement.
Fiduciary Litigation
WCN successfully represented the beneficiaries of an estate against a challenge by the Decedent’s widow challenging the enforceability of an antenuptial agreement executed in 1987. The Massachusetts Probate and Family Court found that the prenuptial agreement was fair and reasonable when the parties entered into the agreement in 1987 and that it was not unconscionable at the time of enforcement in 2024. Further, the Court found that the widow was fully informed of the other party’s net worth prior to the execution of the antenuptial agreement, waived the ability to challenge the enforceability of the agreement, and that the agreement did not strip the contesting spouse of substantially all of her marital interests.
Outcome
Litigator Michael B. Cosentino, Founding Partner at Wilchins Cosentino & Novins LLP, successfully represented some of the beneficiaries of the estate against a challenge by the Decedent’s widow challenging the enforceability of an antenuptial agreement executed in 1997. The Decedent’s widow conveyed part of her own assets to her children stripping herself of significant assets.