Lane v. Lane
Supreme Court of Kentucky
202 S.W.3d 577 (Ky. 2006)
Paula and David Lane (plaintiff and defendant) signed an antenuptial agreement days before marrying, waiving spousal support and keeping David's 401(k) and other assets separate; after a near-decade marriage during which Paula served as the children's caretaker and helped grow David's brokerage career by hosting client events, the couple divorced, with David earning roughly $1 million annually and Paula having only briefly worked as a hotel clerk. The trial court found the support waiver unconscionable and awarded Paula three years of $12,000 annual support, but the court of appeals reversed and strictly enforced the agreement.
Whether a trial court may invalidate a spouse's waiver of a maintenance provision in an antenuptial agreement when, under the particular circumstances of the case, enforcement of the waiver would be unreasonably detrimental to the affected spouse.