Prenuptial Agreements and Spousal Support: Our laws in Ohio are based on State statutes as well as Appellate and Supreme Court cases in Ohio that clarify the statutes. The Second Appellate District Court of Appeals (Montgomery County) rendered an important decision recently clarifying issues of spousal support when there exists a Pre-Nuptial Agreement (also known as an antenuptial agreement).
In this particular case, the parties had been married in 2007 (they had previously been married and divorced before), and prior to the marriage they had signed a prenuptial agreement. The agreement states in relevant part that “Neither party shall be entitled to or granted spousal support from the other. Each party hereby waives and renounces any and all claims he or she may have on the assets or income of the other, including, without limitations, temporary and/or permanent spousal support.”
Despite the language in the prenuptial agreement, the wife filed a request in her complaint for divorce for temporary and permanent spousal support, and the trial court granted her request for temporary spousal support of $2,015 per month, during the pendency of the divorce. The final hearing in the matter was in May and then continuing into June. Prior to the final hearing, the parties stipulated that the prenuptial agreement was valid. When the court entered its decision on the disputed issues, it included giving the husband a full credit ($32,000) for the temporary support that he had previously had to pay, stating that once the prenuptial agreement had been determined to be valid, the wife had no right to have collected this temporary spousal support.
Learn more about prenuptial agreements and spousal support, and the family law services provided by Joseph & Joseph & Hanna.