An appeals court just upheld a huge marital penalty for philandering. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
A Maryland couple married in 2006, but the wife discovered her husband’s affair in 2014. While working toward reconciliation, the couple signed a postnuptial agreement in which she agreed to stay in the marriage. He agreed to pay her a penalty of seven million dollars and give her their house and pay off the mortgage if he engaged in sexting, romantically kissing another or in adultery, buggery, or sodomy. Which seems like a lot of unseemly imagery in a legal document, doesn’t it?
When he commenced his second affair in 2018, she tried to enforce the agreement. But he said it would leave him over a million dollars in debt and among other arguments, claimed a penalty in a marriage contract was against public policy. The court just ruled in her favor. So, let this be a lesson: to avoid penalties, don’t engage in adultery. Or if you’re gonna, don’t sign legal documents with a penalty against it.
Leave a Reply