Fair and Reasonable Disclosure Sample Clauses

Fair and Reasonable Disclosure. Once the trial court determines that a premarital agreement is unconscionable, the party resisting enforcement must also prove that, before signing the agreement, that party was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party. Texas Family Code §4.006(a)(2)(A). In other words, disclosure forms the second prong of the test to rebut the presumption of enforceability, and a lack of disclosure is material only if the premarital agreement has been determined to be unconscionable. Xxxxx, 949 S.W.2d at 743. Thus, the premarital agreement must be found to be unconscionable before the jury is allowed to decide any disclosure issue. In Fanning, the trial court found that the wife had not been provided “fair and reasonable disclosure” of the property or financial obligations of the husband. 828 S.W.2d at 144. On appeal, the husband argued that such finding was supported by legally and factually insufficient evidence. Id. at 146. However, the Waco appellate court looked to the wife‟s testimony that she had not received the required disclosure, that her husband wanted to keep her “ignorant of everything,” and that she did not know how much money was in their account, how much her husband made, or how much property he actually owned, as well as the testimony of the husband‟s own psychologist, who described the husband as “secretive,” in holding that sufficient evidence supported the trial court‟s finding. Id. In Xxxxxx, the husband complained that his wife and her attorney failed to disclose the existence of over $1 million of community income, which had accumulated to her separate property in a grantor trust governed by the terms of the parties‟ postnuptial agreement. 779 S.W.2d at 115. The husband contended that he was not given complete access to this information, and that the wife‟s failure to disclose the accumulation of her income amounted to constructive fraud. Id. The First Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not err in refusing to submit issues to the jury as to “fair and reasonable disclosure,” the husband‟s knowledge of the property and financial obligations of the wife, and whether the husband waived any right to disclosure, because there was no evidentiary basis for submission of such issues to the jury. Id. at 117-118. In reaching its conclusion, the Houston appellate court noted first that the husband was a licensed attorney, a certified public accountant, and an experienced businessman....