By ABC NEWS
The wife of multibillionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is asking a judge to throw out the prenuptial agreement that she says was signed under duress. If her request is granted, it could lead to one of the biggest divorce settlements in America.
Griffin, 45, filed for divorce this summer from his wife of 11 years, claiming irreconcilable differences.
Anne Griffin, 43, told a judge Tuesday that she was forced to sign their prenuptial agreement and asked that it be scrapped.
The Griffins were married in 2003 in a lavish ceremony held at the Palace of Versailles in France. They live in Chicago and have three children.
Comments by Kaine Fisher, Rose Law Group family law attorney:
The article states that the agreement was signed just three hours before the couple’s rehearsal dinner. I would be interested to know when Mrs. Griffin first saw the agreement, if she had an attorney to assist her in reviewing it, and whether any revisions were made to the agreement at her request.
“I don’t feel like we have the full story here. Mr. Griffin having a prior relationship with the psychologist is problematic, but it is hard to say whether she has a leg to stand on regarding her duress agreement without knowing more of these pertinent facts.
“Now, if it is true that Mr. Griffin failed to disclose a significant business interest, then he may have very well have shot himself in the foot by not being candid. Such deceit if the bread and butter of an unconscionability argument.
“I recently wrote an article about rremarital agreements. I discussed whether it was possible to have an “iron clad” premarital agreement. Rarely is there such a thing, and not disclosing a material asset is a sure fire way to sink your battleship. “Regardless of how this turns out, I don’t really see how she could lose either way. She stands to receive 50 million or 2 ½ billion – things could certainly be worse for her. The truly sad aspect of this case is that Mrs. Griffin chose to go public with her claims, thus exposing the family’s finances.
“They have three children. My thought is that the situation could have been handled with a little more tact and grace.
