Opinion ID: 1751169
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Meeting for the Antenuptial Agreement.

Text: On the morning of February 27, 1969, A.M. Stephenson telephoned Helen and said get your bag packed because he and she were going to catch a plane to Las Vegas and be married. Stephenson was 65 years of age, and Helen was 58. However, before departing for the airport, A.M. Stephenson and Helen met at the office of Otto H. Wellensiek, A.M. Stephenson's longtime lawyer. Helen was nervous, and therefore, Wellensiek read a prenuptial agreement for Helen, who had no lawyer and had not seen the agreement before her appearance at Wellensiek's office. The agreement contained no information concerning A.M. Stephenson's property. No financial statement for A.M. Stephenson or list of his property was given to Helen. Although Helen believed that A.M. Stephenson had substantial property interest, she lacked knowledge concerning his specific assets. Wellensiek was A.M. Stephenson's lawyer in various business and personal transactions and had handled the legal work for A.M. Stephenson's purchases and sales of property. Also, as A.M. Stephenson's lawyer who had prepared the antenuptial agreement, Wellensiek recognized the importance of a disclosure of property in conjunction with an antenuptial agreement and, as A.M. Stephenson's lawyer, undertook every effort to make a full disclosure to Helen. In making this disclosure, Wellensiek mentioned several items of property owned by A.M. Stephenson, including a liquor store in Nebraska City, the Grand Hotel Company, the Stephenson Hotel and Stephenson Motel in Falls City, Nebraska, as well as a hotel and motel in Mexico, Missouri. Wellensiek further mentioned that A.M. Stephenson had substantial funds in the form of cash and certificates of deposit and said that A.M. Stephenson's assets were valued in excess of a million dollars. A.M. Stephenson concurred with Wellensiek's description of the Stephenson property.