Opinion ID: 1751169
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: fair disclosure

Text: In accordance with § 30-2316 regarding an antenuptial agreement, after fair disclosure one may sign a written contract or agreement waiving the right to an elective share of a prospective spouse's estate and the right to allowances for homestead, exempt property, and spousal support. In In re Estate of Hill, 214 Neb. 702, 706-07, 335 N.W.2d 750, 753 (1983), this court characterized fair disclosure used in § 30-2316: Fair disclosure is not synonymous with detailed disclosure such as a financial statement of net worth and income. The mere fact that detailed disclosure was not made will not necessarily be sufficient to set aside an otherwise properly executed agreement. Where the agreement was freely executed, the fact that one party did not disclose in detail to the other party the nature, extent, and value of his or her property will not alone invalidate the agreement or raise a presumption of fraudulent concealment. [Citations omitted.] Fair disclosure contemplates that each spouse should be given information, of a general and approximate nature, concerning the net worth of the other. Each party has a duty to consider and evaluate the information received before signing an agreement since they are not assumed to have lost their judgmental faculties because of their pending marriage. (Quoting In re Estate of Lopata, supra . ) Accord In re Estate of Peterson, supra . Notwithstanding the phrase fair disclosure in § 30-2316, this court has held that the basic issue for invalidation of an antenuptial agreement is fraud or overreaching and not the absence of disclosure. Moss v. Stueven, 200 Neb. 215, 217, 263 N.W.2d 98, 100 (1978). Accord, Grassman v. Jensen, 183 Neb. 147, 158 N.W.2d 673 (1968) (fraud in the inducement is sufficient ground for avoidance of antenuptial agreement); Strickland v. Omaha Nat. Bank, supra (basic issue is fraud or overreaching, not the absence of disclosure). Therefore, as used in § 30-2316 concerning an antenuptial agreement, fair disclosure means that before signing an antenuptial agreement, each party must disclose to the other the facts that exist at the time of the agreement and which, in the absence of the antenuptial agreement, affect or determine the prospective intestate share of a surviving spouse in the disclosing party's estate or which otherwise affect or determine distribution of property at the disclosing party's death. Thus, § 30-2316 imposes a statutory duty that the parties to an antenuptial agreement make fair disclosure before signing the antenuptial agreement. Cf. Strickland v. Omaha Nat. Bank, supra (parties to an antenuptial agreement have a relationship of mutual trust and confidence).