Thinking a pre-nup will save you...
Millionaire’s wife gets judges to toss their prenup - NYPOST.com
Wife of millionaire LI real-estate mogul gets judge to rip up her prenup
By KIERAN CROWLEY
Last Updated: 5:50 AM, March 11, 2013
Posted: 1:41 AM, March 11, 2013
EXCLUSIVE
The beautiful wife of a millionaire Long Island real-estate mogul got a judge to rip up her prenup a rare, precedent-setting decision that could influence countless marriages to wealthy people.
Elizabeth Petrakis, 39 sometimes acting as her own lawyer got a an appellate panel last month to toss the agreement she signed with Peter Petrakis, 41, four days before their lavish 1998 wedding.
The prenup stipulated that Peter, who parlayed a string of smoke shops into a $20 million commercial real-estate empire, would keep everything in his name if they split up.
Elizabeth Petrakis
Dennis A. Clark
Elizabeth Petrakis
PAY UP! Elizabeth Petrakis, who wed millionaire Peter in 98, stands to get a big divorce payout with the court ruling.
PAY UP! Elizabeth Petrakis, who wed millionaire Peter in 98, stands to get a big divorce payout with the court ruling.
But Elizabeth argued for seven years that Peter coerced her signature, threatening to call off the wedding even though her father had already paid $40,000 for the reception.
He told me he would rip it up as soon as we had kids, Elizabeth, who has since had twin sons and a daughter, told The Post at her Old Brookville mansion.
But he never did. The reason this happened was I was an advocate for myself and I didnt give up.
She called the document a knife in my heart from Day One.
On February 20, a Brooklyn Appellate Court panel unanimously affirmed two Nassau County court decisions, saying Peter fraudulently induced Elizabeth to sign the prenup and found Peters credibility to be suspect.
The duo will now begin divorce proceedings.
The decision is unprecedented, vacating a pre-nup on the basis of a verbal promise, even though a clause in the contract says there were no verbal promises, said Elizabeths lawyer, Dennis DAntonio.
It resets the bar. Its an entirely different landscape out there in regard to prenups. Ive been inundated with calls. Spouses who are challenging pre-nups now have a leg to stand on, DAntonio said.
Now, Elizabeth says, her husband suddenly wants to end their divorce battle.
He declined to comment.
His need to be successful was more important to him than the need for me to be his wife or the mother of his children, she said.
Elizabeth is now beginning a business called Divorce Prep Experts, which counsels people divorcing with prenups.
Longtime divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, who has never overturned a prenup in his three-decade career and has no involvement in the Petrakis case, called the decision really rare and precedent setting.
kcrowley@nypost.com
Millionaire’s wife gets judges to toss their prenup - NYPOST.com
Wife of millionaire LI real-estate mogul gets judge to rip up her prenup
By KIERAN CROWLEY
Last Updated: 5:50 AM, March 11, 2013
Posted: 1:41 AM, March 11, 2013
EXCLUSIVE
The beautiful wife of a millionaire Long Island real-estate mogul got a judge to rip up her prenup a rare, precedent-setting decision that could influence countless marriages to wealthy people.
Elizabeth Petrakis, 39 sometimes acting as her own lawyer got a an appellate panel last month to toss the agreement she signed with Peter Petrakis, 41, four days before their lavish 1998 wedding.
The prenup stipulated that Peter, who parlayed a string of smoke shops into a $20 million commercial real-estate empire, would keep everything in his name if they split up.
Elizabeth Petrakis
Dennis A. Clark
Elizabeth Petrakis
PAY UP! Elizabeth Petrakis, who wed millionaire Peter in 98, stands to get a big divorce payout with the court ruling.
PAY UP! Elizabeth Petrakis, who wed millionaire Peter in 98, stands to get a big divorce payout with the court ruling.
But Elizabeth argued for seven years that Peter coerced her signature, threatening to call off the wedding even though her father had already paid $40,000 for the reception.
He told me he would rip it up as soon as we had kids, Elizabeth, who has since had twin sons and a daughter, told The Post at her Old Brookville mansion.
But he never did. The reason this happened was I was an advocate for myself and I didnt give up.
She called the document a knife in my heart from Day One.
On February 20, a Brooklyn Appellate Court panel unanimously affirmed two Nassau County court decisions, saying Peter fraudulently induced Elizabeth to sign the prenup and found Peters credibility to be suspect.
The duo will now begin divorce proceedings.
The decision is unprecedented, vacating a pre-nup on the basis of a verbal promise, even though a clause in the contract says there were no verbal promises, said Elizabeths lawyer, Dennis DAntonio.
It resets the bar. Its an entirely different landscape out there in regard to prenups. Ive been inundated with calls. Spouses who are challenging pre-nups now have a leg to stand on, DAntonio said.
Now, Elizabeth says, her husband suddenly wants to end their divorce battle.
He declined to comment.
His need to be successful was more important to him than the need for me to be his wife or the mother of his children, she said.
Elizabeth is now beginning a business called Divorce Prep Experts, which counsels people divorcing with prenups.
Longtime divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, who has never overturned a prenup in his three-decade career and has no involvement in the Petrakis case, called the decision really rare and precedent setting.
kcrowley@nypost.com
sad
!!