Fleming & Curti, P.L.C. - Prenuptial Invalid Thirty Years Later: Property List Missing

AUGUST 14, 2006 VOLUME 14, NUMBER 7

Prenuptial Invalid Thirty Years Later: Property List Missing

When country music legend Jim Reeves died while piloting a small airplane in 1964, he left an estate of about $4 million dollars to his widow Mary. In 1969, when she met and married real estate salesman Terry Davis, Mary Reeves knew that there was some possibility things might not work out, and she insisted that her new husband sign a prenuptial agreement. Mr. Davis was told about the agreement two days before the wedding, and went to Ms. Reeves’ lawyers’ office to sign the day before they were married.

Terry Davis did not have independent legal advice, but the agreement appeared to be in order. It mentioned an attachment detailing the property each of the newlyweds owned, a requirement for prenuptial agreements. It also indicated that neither of them would be entitled to receive anything from the other’s estate upon the death of the first spouse.

The marriage actually worked out fine, and the couple remained married for thirty years. When Mary Reeves Davis died in 1999 and a probate proceeding was initiated, it turned out that her will left $100,000 of her considerable estate to Terry Davis, and the remainder to other heirs.

Mr. Davis asked the probate court to grant him the minimum amount he would have been entitled to receive if there had been no prenuptial agreement—a process legally known as "electing against the will." In support of his position, Mr. Davis pointed out that the agreement itself—though it made mention of an attachment detailing Mrs. Reeves Davis’ assets—did not include any indication of the nature or value of her holdings. Thought the agreement referred to the attachment, no copy could be located.

The estate objected that the prenuptial agreement was valid, and that Mr. Davis was precluded from making his claim to a larger share of the estate. Even if there had never been a list of assets, argued the estate’s administrator, Mr. Davis knew that his new wife was wealthy, and that her assets included copyrights, royalties, and business interests left to her by her late husband. The probate court agreed with the administrator, and ordered that Mr. Davis was to receive his $100,000 share and no more.

The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed that holding. The appellate court noted that the burden of showing the sufficiency of the agreement was on the estate, and that it had not carried its burden. Though the agreement made mention of the personal property list, with no copy available it was impossible to say whether it contained sufficient detail to make the agreement effective. The secretary who typed the document had testified that she remembered typing a list, but without values; that, said the court, was not enough. Estate of Davis, August 7, 2006.

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