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Ok, this is a family court issue involving annulment or divorce. In the
filing stage interragatories completed waiting now for some ammending of
filings for issues like special equity in a residence. The jurisdiction is
Florida.
The parties were married in the Ukraine. 8 months latter concluded a
post-nuptial. The relevant parts of the post-nuptial are the parts specific
issues raised with it. Aside from the general rebuts that are usual for
contracts that one no longer wishes to abide by as in I was coerced, he
threatened to abandon me or whatever broad attack on the agreement one wants
to make. But it is the specific issues that the application of Ukraine law
or at least its admissibility would be advantageous. The argument goes, if
you recognize the marriage as valid then you have to recognize the agreement
as valid, ie they both are contracts entered into in the same country. Nice
logic but I get the feeling it doesnt work. So the specific challenges and
rebuts
First is the consideration. $1, a few months accumulation of marital
property, and lots of help immigrating (hate to mention this but that is
what it says and given the circumstances at the time it was quite
meaningful - that is until one got it then its value went down by good
measure) Respondent claims the agreement had inadaquate consideration.
Petitioner rebuts with 8 years of effort to support respondents immigration.
Which once achieved by petitioner all of a sudden have no value.
The respondent challenges the agreement in its terms of giving up
support/maintenance (no children involved) as being overreaching. Petitioner
rebuts 1) it was not the custom in the land to give support /maintenance
where not children are involved and in addition 2) you get in the agreement
a sum = the entire wages you would have earned in that country including
pension earnings till you died. 3) you held yourself out as having high
education and capable of self support if there was a divorce and petitioner
relied on that.
The respondent challenges the agreement because respondent waved right to
have an attorney present. Petitioner rebuts 1) you are a big person you
could have just said no 2) the legal custom of the land is not through
lawyers but by civil law notaries and that was done.
The desire to include the family code of the ukraine, which is in my opinion
a far easier starting point to work with than case law, because it has about
249 articles which clearly state principles and those principles can be
applied to individual cases and the judge really doesnt interpret as much in
common law but more appropriatly applies the principles to the case in
question.
If all the issues were/could be decided under the civil law of the ukraine I
am of the opinion that the opportunity for dispute would be lessened. If not
tried by but even admitted into consideration the code communicates a frame
of reference for the marriage and the agreement. On its face, one could see
that the reason respondent entered into the agreement was because it was not
unusual and because it was done openly and according to accepted procedure.
Actually as I read the Family Code the item about helping with immigration,
if the basis of the marriage itself, is grounds for annulment.
I gather that one can try to introduce via Notice of Intent to Introduce the
foreign law and use it to clarify the parties frame of mind when they
entered into the agreement.
Now I ask, in Florida or by US Statute - can this code be introduced for
consideration and maybe even ruled upon using it. What enables its use
specifically.
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