Cioffi-Petrakis v. Petrakis
| Citation | 72 A.D.3d 868,898 N.Y.S.2d 861 |
| Parties | Elizabeth CIOFFI-PETRAKIS, appellant, v. Panagiotis PETRAKIS, respondent. |
| Decision Date | 20 April 2010 |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
72 A.D.3d 868
Elizabeth CIOFFI-PETRAKIS, appellant,
v.
Panagiotis PETRAKIS, respondent.
Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.
April 20, 2010.
Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., Carle Place, N.Y. (Steven A. Morelli and Shannon K. Hynes of counsel), for appellant.
Gassman, Baiamonte, Betts & Tannenbaum, P.C., Garden City, N.Y. (Stephen Gassman and Cheryl Y. Mallis of counsel), for respondent.
In an action, inter alia, to set aside a prenuptial agreement, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by her brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Falanga, J.), dated August 1, 2008, as granted those branches of the defendant's motion which were for summary judgment dismissing the second, third, and sixth causes of action, and stated portions of the eighth and tenth causes of action.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
An agreement between spouses or prospective spouses which is fair on its face will be enforced according to its terms unless there is proof of fraud, duress, overreaching, or unconscionability ( see Christian v. Christian, 42 N.Y.2d 63, 72-73, 396 N.Y.S.2d 817, 365 N.E.2d 849; Label v. Label, 70 A.D.3d 898, 895 N.Y.S.2d 192). "An unconscionable bargain is one which no person in his or her senses and not under delusion would make on the one hand, and no honest and fair person would accept on the other, the inequality being so strong and
manifest as to shock the conscience and confound the judgment of any person of common sense" ( Morad v. Morad, 27 A.D.3d 626, 627, 812 N.Y.S.2d 126; see Christian v. Christian, 42 N.Y.2d at 71, 396 N.Y.S.2d 817, 365 N.E.2d 849). An agreement, however, will not be overturned " 'merely because, in retrospect, some of its provisions were improvident or one-sided' " ( Label v. Label, 70 A.D.3d at 899, 895 N.Y.S.2d 192, quoting O'Lear v. O'Lear, 235 A.D.2d 466, 466, 652 N.Y.S.2d 1008), and simply alleging an unequal division of assets is not sufficient to establish unconscionability ( see Cosh v. Cosh, 45 A.D.3d 798, 799, 847 N.Y.S.2d 136).Here, the record demonstrates that the plaintiff was represented by independent counsel during negotiations involving the parties' prenuptial agreement, that she signed the agreement, and that her counsel signed the agreement as a witness. Moreover, the agreement itself recites that the wife entered into it "freely, voluntarily and with full knowledge of all...
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...( S.G. v. N.G. , 57 Misc. 3d 1215[A], 2017 WL 4969956 [Sup. Ct., Westchester County 2017], citing Cioffi-Petrakis v. Petrakis , 72 A.D.3d 868, 869, 898 N.Y.S.2d 861 [2d Dept. 2010] ). In Barocas v. Barocas, 94 A.D.3d 551, 552, 942 N.Y.S.2d 491 (1st Dept. 2012), the First Department held tha......
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Petracca v. Petracca
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...and simply alleging an unequal division of assets is not sufficient to establish unconscionability." Cioffi-Petrakis v. Petrakis , 72 AD3d 868, 869, 898 N.Y.S.2d 861 (2d Dept. 2010). "[C]ourts will not set aside an agreement on the ground of unconscionability simply because it might have be......
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