Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Prenuptial Agreements
Will Florida law be applied to a prenuptial agreement entered in another state or country? If a prenuptial agreement has a “choice of law” provision in which the parties agree that the laws of a state or country will be used to enforce or interpret the agreement, a Florida court will generally apply the other state or country’s laws so long as it is not against public policy. This was an issue in the case Moquin v. Bergeron, 4D21-27 (Fla. 4th DCA May 11, 2022).
The parties entered a prenuptial agreement in Quebec. The agreement provided in pertinent part that (1) “The future spouses adopt the separate property regime, pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code of the Province of Quebec” and (2) “The future spouses will cover the marital expenses in proportion to their respective possibilities.” Certain real property that was purchased during the marriage using the former husband’s funds and titled in the name of the former husband’s trust was in dispute. The parties entered a joint pretrial stipulation agreeing “‘the Family Patrimony Articles of the Civil Code of Quebec do not apply to the partition of property for spouses who do not reside in Quebec at the time of dissolution of marriage’ and the family patrimony articles did ‘not apply to the parties herein who have been residing in Florida since 2007.’” Despite this stipulation, the trial court stated in the final judgment “the only remaining issue for this Court to decide is how to equitably divide the net proceeds from the sale of the Ocean Ridge Residence and [Palm Beach Gardens] Condominium property pursuant to Chapter 61, Florida Statutes.” The former husband appealed.
The appellate court first noted it was appropriate to apply Quebec laws in interpreting and enforcing the agreement pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, and that doing so in any event was not against public policy in Florida. The court held “In the instant case, regardless of whether the family patrimony articles would have applied, the parties specifically stipulated ‘the Family Patrimony Articles of the Civil Code of Quebec do not apply to the partition of property for spouses who do not reside in Quebec at the time of dissolution of marriage’ and the family patrimony articles did ‘not apply to the parties herein who have been residing in Florida since 2007.’ In light of such stipulation, the parties’ Marriage Contract—which stated the parties ‘adopt[ed] the separate property regime, pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code of the Province of Quebec’—was controlling. Thus, because there existed a valid and enforceable contract directing the parties to employ the laws of Quebec as those laws pertain to the parties’ property at the time of separation, the trial court had no need to turn to Article 3089 of the Civil Code of Quebec. Nor did the trial court have any need to approximate the effects of the family patrimony articles within Florida law. Consequently, we conclude the trial court erred in equitably distributing the property under Chapter 61. Because the testimony was undisputed that Former Wife had not contributed any funds to the purchase, improvement, or maintenance of either marital home during the marriage, and because of the extensive testimony as to the parties’ efforts in maintaining separate assets, we further conclude Former Husband is solely entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the Ocean Ridge Residence and Palm Beach Gardens Condominium.”
Schedule your consultation with a Miami prenuptial agreement lawyer to understand how this type of agreement may benefit you and to understand how one will be enforced in a Florida divorce case.