Birt v. Birt, 208 Ariz. 546, 96 P.3d 544, 96 P.3d 544
(Ct. App., Div. 1, 2004) (PDF 345 KB)
Former wife moved to set aside dissolution decree when former husband filed bankruptcy shortly after entry of decree. The Court of Appeals held that (1) the filing for bankruptcy was not newly discovered evidence which would justify setting aside decree; (2) decree had no prospective enforcement, and thus setting aside decree was not justified by inequitable prospective enforcement under rule; but (3) setting aside decree was justified by provision of rule which applied when substantial injustice outweighed commitment to finality of judgments; and (4) former wife was entitled to attorney fees on appeal.

Donlann v. MacGurn, 203 Ariz. 380, 55 P.3d 74, 55 P.3d 74 (Ct. App., Div. 1., 2002) (PDF 217 KB)
Wife filed petition for dissolution of marriage, and husband filed motion to dismiss, challenging validity of marriage conducted in Mexico. The Court of Appeals held that: (1) trial court properly applied law of Mexican state where marriage was conducted to initially determine validity of marriage; (2) husband and wife were not required to obtain marriage license from clerk of Arizona superior court; and (3) marriage invalid under law where ceremony occurred is recognized as valid in Arizona if it would have been valid had ceremony been performed in Arizona.

Lister v. Lister, FC2003-014059 (PDF 14 KB)
Wife petitioner the court to render unenforceable and invalid a “prenuptial agreement” executed by the parties after they had been married in a civil ceremony. The Superior Court granted Wife’s motion holding that husband’s misrepresentations to the wife that the prenuptial agreement was invalid because the parties were already married, fraudulently induced wife to sign the agreement.

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