California Pre/Post Marital Agreements: January 1999 Summary

Legal Developments

In re Marriage of Pendleton and Fireman

On June 17, 1998, the California Supreme Court granted review of In re Marriage of Pendleton and Fireman (1998) 62 Cal.App.4th 751, 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 840. As discussed in our April Update, on March 26, 1998 the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held: "Spousal support waivers and limitations contained in written premarital agreements are not contrary to public policy and are not per se unenforceable." Previously, all California courts had held that waivers of spousal support in premarital agreements were void as against public policy. As discussed in our August Update, the Supreme Court granted review on June 17, 1998. Briefing has now been completed and, due to the interest being generated by the case, the briefs filed in the Supreme Court are included in the Resources section of this program.