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Fanning v. Fanning
Texas Court of Appeals
828 S.W.2d 135 (1992)
Facts
Whitney Fanning (defendant) and Nita Kissel (plaintiff) were married in September 1980. Both were attorneys with successful law practices. In August 1980, Whitney and Nita signed a premarital agreement, which specified that personal earnings from Whitney’s or Nita’s law practices would remain separate property. It also stated that all income from a list of separate property would remain separate property. In the premarital agreement, Whitney and Nita acknowledged that under current law, most of their future property would be community property. However, Whitney and Nita stated that if a then-proposed Texas constitutional amendment that allowed community property to be reclassified as separate property were passed, their agreements would take effect. The amendment passed in 1980. Whitney and Nita executed a 1981 partition agreement that stated there would no longer be any community-property interest in income derived from the separate property of either of them. Nita filed for divorce, and the trial court failed to enforce the premarital or partition agreements. Instead, the trial court gave much of the assets and custody of their children to Nita. Whitney appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Cummings, J.)
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