What is the main New Jersey case on the validity of post-nuptial agreements?
The major case on the enforcement of post-nuptial agreement is Pacelli v. Pacelli, 319 N.J. Super. 185 (App. Div. 1999). Here Mrs. Pacelli and Mr. Pacelli battled over the validity of their post-nuptial agreement. They had been married for 10 years in 1985, when, she says, he told her to choose between divorce and signing a post-nuptial agreement. Under the agreement, she was to be awarded $500,000 and half of a $1 million summer home if they divorced. But when Mr. Pacelli, a developer, filed for divorce in 1996, his wife argued that she was entitled to more of his fortune, which had increased from $5 million to $11 million, and she sued. The trial court, after a hearing held that the agreement was enforceable. Thereafter, the wife Mrs. Pacelli appealed to the Appellate Division. The trial court held that the agreement was not the result of coercion or duress, and that it was fair as measured in 1985. Thereafter, Mrs. Pacelli appealed to the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division r
