There are a lot of reasons why a judge could throw out a prenup in Florida, even if you signed it before marriage. For instance, if you were forced to sign it under duress, it likely won’t hold up. But can the judge throw the paperwork out if you can’t read it?
In some cases, this absolutely can happen. One woman signed a prenup in New York, but she is originally from Switzerland. Her husband is from Germany, and the prenup was written in German, which the woman can’t read.
At the time when she signed it, she was told by her husband and his parents that the parents were just protecting their own estate. They own a castle, and he said that they simply didn’t want the castle to go to her if they passed away. They wanted to make sure that it stayed in the family.
She took them at their word and signed the papers. When she decided to get divorced years later, though, it turned out that the document also said she could not get any portion of her husband’s money, something she hadn’t expected. This was critical, as he had millions of dollars.
When they went before the court and the man admitted that he had not given her a translated version, the prenup was thrown out on the grounds that her being able to understand what it said was a crucial part of the process.
If you feel you’ve been tricked in some way with a prenup, perhaps because you can’t read it, you need to know what legal options you have. An attorney can explain those options.
Source: New York Post, “Judge says ‘Nein!’ to prenup because wife can’t read German,” Julia Marsh, accessed March 11, 2016