Muxlow's Estate, In re
| Decision Date | 02 July 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 8,A,8 |
| Citation | 116 N.W.2d 43,367 Mich. 133 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the ESTATE of Fred R. MUXLOW, Deceased. pril Term. |
| Court | Michigan Supreme Court |
Atkins & Drillock, Marlette, for appellants.
Robert L. Taylor, Lapeer, for appellees.
Before the Entire Bench.
SOURIS, Justice (for affirmance).
Minerva Muxlow and Fred Muxlow were married in November of 1935. In February of 1937 they separated, but were never divorced. Fred Muxlow died in 1958 and Minerva died the following year. At issue in this appeal is an antenuptial agreement entered into by Minerva and Fred Muxlow a few days before their marriage. Its invalidity is urged by the administrator of Minerva's estate, appellant herein, solely on the ground that it limited Fred Muxlow's financial obligations to Minerva upon termination of the marital relation, was entered into in contemplation of a future separation and was, therefore, void because against public policy.
The probate court upheld the validity of the agreement, thereby barring Minerva's administrator from claiming any interest in Fred's estate. On appeal to the circuit court for Lapeer county, Judge Quinn likewise affirmed the validity of the agreement.
Antenuptial agreements are expressly authorized by statute in this state. C.L.1948, § 557.5 (Stat.Ann.1957 Rev. § 26.164), and In re Irwin's Estate, 335 Mich. 143, 147, 55 N.W.2d 769. The general rule is that an 'antenuptial contract which provides for, facilitates, or tends to induce a separation or divorce of the parties after marriage, is contrary to public policy, and is therefore void.' 70 A.L.R. 826, 827, and cases therein annotated. See, also, Scherba v. Scherba, 340 Mich. 228, 231, 65 N.W.2d 758. The antenuptial agreement involved in this appeal, excepting only the acknowledgment, is as follows:
'ANTENUPTIAL AGREEMENT
'THIS INDENTURE, made this 7th day of November, 1935, by and between Fred R. Muxlow of Marlette, Michigan, party of the first party, and Minerva G. Bryce of Brown City, Michigan, party of the second part, witnesseth:
'THAT WHEREAS, a marriage has been agreed upon and is intended to be duly had and solemnized between the said parties, and WHEREAS, both of said parties are possessed of certain real and personal properties and it is the desire of said parties that neither of them, upon the death of the other or upon the termination of the marital relation of said parties, shall claim or have any interest or title in the property of the other,
'FURTHER, it is agreed that first party shall pay to second party the sum of one hundred dollars per year, beginning one year after marriage and payable each year thereafter so long as both of said parties live but upon the death of either party or in the event that said parties cease to live and cohabit together as husband and wife, then said yearly payments shall cease.
'IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.
'Fred R. Muxlow (Signed) (L....
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Gross v. Gross
...P. 550; Del Vecchio v. Del Vecchio (Fla.1962), 143 So.2d 17; Seuss v. Schukat (1934), 358 Ill. 27, 192 N.E. 668; In re Estate of Muxlow (1962), 367 Mich. 133, 116 N.W.2d 43. In upholding such agreements concerning the disposition of property upon the death of one spouse, the courts have gen......
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Posner v. Posner
...concluding that it could not be said this provision 'facilitated or tended to induce a separation or divorce.' See In re Muxlow's Estate, 1962, 367 Mich. 133, 116 N.W.2d 43. In this view of an antenuptial agreement that settles the right of the parties in the event of divorce as well as upo......
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Benker's Estate, Matter of
...to induce a separation or divorce of the parties after marriage, contravenes public policy and is therefore void. In re Muxlow Estate, 367 Mich. 133, 116 N.W.2d 43 (1962). However, the court concluded that such a clause did not affect the provisions concerning rights on death. This issue ha......
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Rinvelt v. Rinvelt
...the only applicable test, the decree is affirmed, with costs to defendant. [Id. p. 231, 65 N.W.2d 758.] Later, in In re Muxlow Estate, 367 Mich. 133, 116 N.W.2d 43 (1962), the Court was again faced with an antenuptial agreement purporting to limit a surviving spouse's claim in the event of ......
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Insuring the knot: the Massachusetts approach to postnuptial agreements.
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