Fratarcangeli v. Fratarcangeli

23 Pa. D. & C.5th 449
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County
DecidedMarch 8, 2011
DocketNo. 1071 DR 2007 and 8702 CV 2007
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Fratarcangeli v. Fratarcangeli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fratarcangeli v. Fratarcangeli, 23 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

ZULICK J.,

This divorce case came before the court for a hearing on Licet Fratarcangeli’s (wife) motion for special relief on December 21,2010. The motion sought to set aside Frank Fratarcangeli (husband) and wife’s postnuptial agreement, sought to disqualify husband’s counsel, Elliot B. Edley, Esq., for a claimed conflict of interest, and sought to compel discovery. The parties were given an opportunity to obtain a transcript and file briefs following the hearing.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Husband and wife were married on September 13, 2002.

2. Their son, Frank Fratarcangeli, Jr., age 9, was bom on July 13, 2001.

3. Husband resides at 773 Blue Mountain Lake, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The parties’ son Frank resides there with him.

4. Wife, age 33, resides with her parents in New Jersey. She has one other child, Kayla, 14.

5. Wife’s sole source of income is Social Security disability in the amount of $450 per month.

6. On August 19, 2003, husband purchased property on Main Street, Stroudsburg from Penn Stroud Hotel, Inc. for $600,000. At the time of the hearing, he was receiving [451]*451rents from this property. NT 15.

7. On June 30, 2005, husband and wife purchased Lot 535, Blue Mountain Lake, Stroud Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania for $395,000.

8. On November 7, 2005, husband purchased an Exxon station on Route 209 in Middle Smithfield Township for $1.6 million dollars.

9. The parties separated on or about October 15, 2007, when wife was given exclusive possession of the marital residence by order of this court.

10. After the parties married, husband was employed managing two tobacco shops he owned. These businesses were called F&T Tobacco.

11. At the time of the hearing, husband managed his Exxon station in Middle Smithfield Township as a full-time occupation.

12. Wife became addicted to painkillers following surgeries she had after the parties’ son Frank Jr. was bom. Husband testified that wife used Codeine, Oxycontin, Percocet and Vicodin.

13. Husband tried to get wife to go into a rehabilitation facility.

14. Elliot B. Edley, Esq. has represented husband in the past and husband considers him his family lawyer.

15. Attorney Edley represented wife in a custody proceeding in Licet Fratarcangeli v. Maria Mendez and Heriberto Quirindongo, No. 1107 Civil 2005, in this court from February through June, 2005. The case involved wife’s claims for custody of her minor daughter Kayla [452]*452against third parties (the maternal grandmother and father of Kayla, respectively).

16. Attorney Edley filed this action for divorce and custody against wife on October 2, 2007 and has represented husband against wife in these divorce proceedings and in custody proceedings involving the parties’ son Frank.

17. Attorney Edley wrote a letter to the custody conciliator on November 27, 2007 expressing concerns about the mother being “impaired.”

18. Attorney Edley prepared a draft postnuptial agreement on husband’s behalf in May, 2008.

19. On May 14, 2008, husband asked wife to come to the Exxon station where he was working to pick up some money. He did not mention that there was an agreement he wanted her to sign. When she got to the station he showed her the postnuptial agreement and asked her to sign it. When she refused, he said he would not give her any more money or let her see her son if she did not sign it. Wife was relying upon husband for financial support at that point; he was providing her with an apartment, car. and money.

20. The parties signed the agreement before a notary public on May 14, 2008.

21. Husband agreed in the postnuptial agreement to place $30,000 upon the execution of the agreement by wife in escrow with Attorney Edley. Husband has not done this. NT 28.

22. The parties agreed to sell their condominium in the [453]*453Dominican Republic. The property has never been listed for sale.

23. Since the time of the parties’ separation, wife has been repeatedly hospitalized for mental health disorders and addictions.

24. Wife lived in the apartment provided by husband for a period of two years as stated in the agreement. “Wife shall have the opportunity to live rent free at 38 A Pocono Boulevard in the apartment that she is in for a period of up to two years if she pays all expenses including utilities.”

DISCUSSION

Wife’s motion for special relief seeks several remedies. She asks to set aside the parties’ postnuptial agreement, requests disqualification of husband’s counsel due to an alleged conflict of interest, and seeks to compel discovery.

1. Validity of the Postnuptial Agreement.

The resolution of marital property rights through postnuptial agreements is the means by which most divorce cases are resolved in this county, and this private resolution of parties’ disputes is encouraged by Pennsylvania law. Laudig v. Laudig, 624 A.2d 651, 653 (Pa. Super. 1993). Postnuptial agreements are contracts and are governed by contract law. Laudig, supra. Also, the principles applicable to prenuptial agreements are “equally applicable” to postnuptial agreements. Stoner v. Stoner, 572 Pa. 665, 672, 819 A.2d 529, 533 n. 5 (Pa. 2003); Paroly v. Paroly 876 A.2d 1061, 1063 (Pa. Super. 2005).

The seminal case in Pennsylvania on the validity of [454]*454these agreements is Simeone v. Simeone, 525 Pa. 392, 581 A.2d 162 (1990). There, our Supreme Court:

analyzed the enforceability of a prenuptial agreement and clarified the standards for determining the validity of marital settlement agreements generally. Under Simeone, we are not permitted to review the reasonableness of a marital settlement agreement to determine its validity, and the fact that the parties did not have separate representation is not relevant. That case abolished prior, paternalistic approaches to enforcing such agreements and announced, “Absent fraud, misrepresentation, or duress, spouses should be bound by the terms of their agreements.” Id. at 400, 581 A.2dat 165.
Parolyv. Paroly, 876 A.2d 1061, 1065 - 66 (Pa.Super. 2005).

The Simeone court reaffirmed the “longstanding principle that a full and fair disclosure of the financial positions of the parties is required. Absent this disclosure, a material misrepresentation in the inducement for entering a prenuptial agreement may be asserted.” Simeone at 402, 581 A.2d at 167. The Supreme Court also stated that “(i) f an agreement provides that full disclosure has been made, a presumption of full disclosure arises.

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Bluebook (online)
23 Pa. D. & C.5th 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fratarcangeli-v-fratarcangeli-pactcomplmonroe-2011.