Marriage of Bernard

Gloria Bernard (plaintiff) was engaged to Thomas Bernard (defendant), a wealthy real estate developer, subject to the execution of a prenuptial agreement. Gloria worked for Thomas and was fully aware of his assets. The wedding was scheduled for July 8, 2000. Thomas and his attorney did not provide Gloria with a draft copy of the prenuptial agreement until June 20, 18 days before the wedding. Gloria reviewed the draft agreement with Marshall Gehring, an attorney experienced with prenuptial agreements, on July 5. That same evening, Thomas sent Gloria a new working draft that was substantially different from the June 20 draft. Gehring did not have time to fully review the new draft before the wedding, but he sent Gloria a letter outlining five areas of major concern. Gloria signed the prenuptial agreement on July 7 to prevent Thomas from canceling the wedding. On July 8, the wedding day, Thomas and Gloria signed a side letter agreeing to renegotiate the five areas of major concern by October 7, 2000; the amendments were ultimately finalized in August 2001. The amended prenuptial agreement waived Gloria’s inheritance rights and her right to spousal maintenance in the event of divorce, severely restricted the creation of community property, and allowed Thomas to use community property to enrich his separate assets without reimbursing or compensating Gloria. Gloria filed for divorce in February 2005 and sought to invalidate the prenuptial agreement. Thomas countered and moved to enforce the agreement. The trial court invalidated the amended prenuptial agreement, holding that it was substantively and procedurally unfair, citing the short time Gloria had to review the original prenuptial agreement before the marriage and the fact that the renegotiations were limited to the five areas of major concern Gehring had identified. On appeal, the appellate court affirmed. Thomas appealed to the Washington Supreme Court.