The case originated from a July 2019 marriage between a husband worth over $15 million and a stay-at-home mother with an initial net worth of roughly $175,000. Following their 2022 separation, the wife accumulated heavy legal debt after exhausting her savings on shared household expenses during the relationship. Although a lower court initially awarded her $188,911.49 in legal fees, the appellate court remanded that specific amount for reassessment while affirming the trial judge's power to override the prenup fee waiver.
Key points
Prenuptial fee waivers cannot strictly prevent judges from awarding legal costs during di…: Prenuptial fee waivers cannot strictly prevent judges from awarding legal costs during divorces involving children.
Appellate courts recognized that unchecked litigation can allow wealthier spouses to exha…: Appellate courts recognized that unchecked litigation can allow wealthier spouses to exhaust an opposing party's legal funds.
The lower court must reconsider the precise calculation of the wife's prior $188,911.49 l…: The lower court must reconsider the precise calculation of the wife's prior $188,911.49 legal fee award.
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Washington’s Court of Appeals has given trial courts more room to order a wealthier spouse to pay a poorer spouse’s legal fees, even when a prenuptial agreement says each side must cover its own costs. The ruling, filed on 29 October by Division Three of the Washington Court of Appeals,
clarifies that judges are not limited to awarding fees for work directly related to parenting or child support. They may also award reasonable fees incurred in other aspects of the divorce, despite a prenuptial agreement containing a fee-waiver clause. The court reached this conclusion while reviewing the case of a couple whose prenup required each spouse to bear their own legal costs in the event of a divorce.
A prenup with a fee waiver
In 2018, the Washington couple signed an antenuptial agreement. At the time, the husband’s net worth exceeded $15 million, while the wife’s was about $175,000. In the prenup, they agreed to pay their own attorney fees in any dissolution or maintenance case. They married in July 2019 and had a child. The wife was a stay-at-home…
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