Taylor v. Taylor

Citations

• 144 Ill. 436
• 33 N.E. 532

Syllabus

<p>1. Husband and wife — ante-nuptial contract set aside for unfairness. A marriage contract was entered into four days before marriage of the parties, by which the intended wife, in consideration of $2000, to be paid two years after the husband’s death, released all the rights given her by law in his estate, including dower and homestead, and by which he also released all rights in the wife’s estate, and it appeared that she had no property or expectation of property, which provision for the wife was shown to be very inadequate, taking into consideration his means. There was no proof of the circumstances attending the execution of the contract, or that the wife was made acquainted with the extent of property owned by her intended husband: Held, that the agreement was one-sided and unfair to the wife, and did not bar her right of dower in the husband’s lands and estate.</p> <p>2. While it may be conceded that an intended wife has the legal capacity to make an ante-nuptial contract, and that marriage is a sufficient consideration to support it, yet in the absence of clear and satisfactory proof, it will not be presumed that she would, with full knowledge of all the circumstances, enter into such a contract which makes an inadequate provision in her favor.</p> <p>3. Same — burden of sustaining ante-nuptial contract. Parties to an ante-nuptial contract occupy a confidential relation toward each other. While they may lawfully contract with each other when there is full knowledge of all that materially affects the contract, yet when the provision secured for the intended wife is disproportionate to the means of the intended husband, it raises the presumption of designed concealment and throws the burden upon those claiming in his right to prove that there was a full knowledge in her of all that materially affects the contract.</p> <p>4. Where the provision made for the intended wife is inadequate to the husband’s means, the burden will be on his heirs to prove by satisfa