Court Opinion

ID: 9757180
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 22:22:30.919775+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:35.612774
License: Public Domain

Justice CASTILLE,
concurring.
I join the lead opinion, but write separately to emphasize that there is another issue, which the courts below may have to address, before this matter can be finally resolved. Our reversal today is limited to the single issue brought before this Court: whether the prenuptial agreement was invalid as a result of fraud. But this is not the only open issue in the case.
In the initial action, appellee Susan Porreco alleged three distinct grounds for invalidation of the prenuptial agreement: (1) that appellant Louis Porreco fraudulently induced her to enter the prenuptial agreement by misrepresenting the value of the ring; (2) that appellant breached a confidential relationship with her; and (3) that appellant violated his duty of full and fair disclosure, as articulated in Simeone v. Simeone, 525 Pa. 392, 581 A.2d 162 (1990). Although appellee argued these three separate grounds, only the first ground is resolved by *74this appeal. It is therefore possible that, on remand, appellee may prevail on one of the two remaining grounds.
In this regard, I note that neither of the courts below has yet to rule on the question of whether appellant violated his duty of full and fair disclosure by misstating the value of the ring given to appellee. This Court in Simeone held that full and fair disclosure of the parties’ financial positions is required in a prenuptial agreement. 581 A.2d at 167. “Parties to [prenuptial] agreements do not quite deal at arm’s length, but rather at the time the contract is entered into stand in a relation of mutual confidence and trust that calls for disclosure of their financial resources.” Id. As noted in the lead opinion, a prenuptial agreement may be invalidated “where a party fails to make ‘full and fair’ disclosure of his or her own assets prior to entering the agreement.” Op. at 570 (citing Simeone).
The trial court invalidated the agreement in this case on two of appellee’s three grounds. First, the trial court found that appellant made a material misrepresentation regarding the value of the engagement ring, and thereby fraudulently induced appellee to enter into the agreement. Second, the trial court found that there was a confidential relationship between the parties, which appellant breached. The trial court did not, however, specifically pass upon the Simeone question.
On direct appeal, the Superior Court agreed that appellant fraudulently induced appellee into entering the prenuptial agreement by misrepresenting the value of the ring. Agreeing with the trial court’s determination that fraud had occurred, the Superior Court did not address the alternative question of whether or not appellant breached the confidential relationship, nor did it reach the full and fair disclosure question raised pursuant to Simeone, which the trial court itself did not reach.
The only issue before this Court on discretionary review is whether the courts below properly concluded that appellant fraudulently induced appellee into the prenuptial agreement by misrepresenting the value of the engagement ring on the *75list of her individual assets, which he prepared as part of the prenuptial agreement. The Court’s holding is limited to finding that appellee’s reliance on the misrepresentation was unjustifiable under common-law fraud principles, noting that “we are not asked to decide the extent of the ‘full and fair’ disclosure rule of Simeone; neither the trial court nor the Superior Court relied on this rule to invalidate the prenuptial agreement.” Op. at 570. Thus, although we have held that the prenuptial agreement is not invalid as a result of fraud — which is a high standard in the law, requiring the party alleging fraud to demonstrate all six elements with clear and convincing evidence — we have offered no view on the other questions. The matter is being remanded to the Superior Court to determine whether or not the prenuptial agreement can be invalidated as a result of the trial court’s finding of a breach of a confidential relationship. Depending on the outcome of that inquiry, the Superior Court may or may not have to reach the Simeone question. I would note that, if the Superior Court had to proceed to that inquiry, a remand to the trial court would be appropriate since that court never made a ruling on the question of full and fair disclosure.
Thus, although I agree with the lead opinion that the prenuptial agreement is valid with respect to the issue before this Court, i.e. fraud, I caution that the case is far from over since, upon remand, the prenuptial agreement may be found invalid on one of the two remaining grounds.