Family Law

In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Leah Sears, from an appeal of an order entered in the Superior Court of Bryan County by Judge David Cavender, in Blige v. Blige, S07F1817, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment awarding the wife $160K as her equitable interest in the parties? marital home, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in setting aside the parties? prenuptial agreement, since the evidence supported the trial court?s finding that the husband failed to make a full and fair disclosure of his assets, income and liabilities prior to execution of the agreement. The parties did not live together before the marriage and the husband actively hid the fact that he had $150K in cash in his possession when the parties signed the agreement. In so holding, the Court rejected the husband?s contention that Mallen v. Mallen, 280 Ga. 43 (2005), " ?recognized a generalized "duty to . . . inquir[e]" into the financial status of one?s prospective spouse,? " since Mallen did not overrule the first prong of the three-prong test in Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635 (1982), which provides that antenuptial agreements must not be obtained through nondisclosure of material facts.

SOURCE: Supreme Court of Georgia and Fulton County Daily Report