Prenup Thrown Out in Landmark Divorce Case

 Posted on March 26, 2013 in Divorce

A Long Island woman won a "major and rare divorce battle," according to ABC News, when an Appellate Court in New York ruled that the prenuptial agreement she had signed could be discarded during her divorce. Elizabeth Petrakis claimed that she had originally refused to sign the prenup, but that "four days before tying the knot, she agreed to sign the prenup after her fiancé, 41-year-old Peter Petrakis, promised he would get rid of the prenup once the two began to have children," according to ABC. He did not, and while this wasn’t the immediate reason for their divorce, the seeds of distrust that his broken promise sowed marked the beginning of the relationship’s demise.

The prenup in question was one that lawyers would refer to as "heavy-handed," according to ABC. It would give Mrs. Petrakis $25,000 for every year that she was married, but nothing more. Mr. Petrakis is a commercial property developer, worth a whopping $20 million, according to ABC News. "He’s a good father. He’s a very successful businessman," Mrs. Petrakis told ABC, "but this prenup was a thorn in our marriage, and he didn’t want to give in."

In 2008 Mrs. Petrakis began her own business, Divorce Prep Experts, to help other future divorcees navigate the tricky proceedings. Prenups are one area of expertise when it comes to divorce that Mrs. Petrakis can now impart to her clients. Her lawyer, Dennis D’Anotnio, said that her winning this landmark case would help other future ex-spouses who might be stuck with a prenup agreement that isn’t exactly fair.

Revisiting prenuptial agreements are just one of the many complicated processes that a person anticipating divorce will have to navigate. Whether you’re looking for help in this stage of the process or any other, don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated Chicago-area divorce attorney today.

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