
The court also agreed that there was no evidence of duress during the signing of this agreement and no evidence of deprivation of the wife’s right to advice of independent counsel. The appeals court reasoned that the terms of the agreement were very straightforward, and therefore business experience was not necessary to comprehend the terms of the prenuptial agreement. However, the appeals court noted that this did not place him in a more advantageous position, and noted that the wife was very intelligent, evidenced by the fact that she had graduated from high school with honors and was working on a pharmacy degree. The Tennessee appeals court noted that Abbie was older than Lauren and had some more experience in business than she did. Lauren appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The court reasoned that since the parties lived together prior to marriage, they were aware of each other’s assets, and that Lauren was aware that Abbie wanted to protect those assets for his children. The court ruled that the agreement was valid and enforceable. Lauren testified that she was not told that she could seek independent legal advice or counsel, and that she trusted the husband. Lauren, on the other hand, testified that she knew Abbie wanted to get a prenup agreement before getting married, but that the couple had never discussed the terms of the agreement. Lauren argued that the agreement should be deemed invalid and unenforceable because she had not signed freely and knowledgeably.Ībbie testified that he had told Lauren that he was not willing to get married without a prenuptial agreement, because the house he lived in was purchased with the proceeds of a life insurance policy when his first wife had died, and so he wanted to make sure that the house was left for his children from his first marriage.
#Does a will have to be notarized in tn. trial#
Lauren asserted that the prenuptial agreement was invalid, and a trial ensued. Seven years later, the no longer happy couple filed for divorce. Lauren knew for several years prior to marriage that Lauren was not willing to get married without a prenuptial agreement. At the time, Abbie was 54 years old and worked as a pharmacist, and Abbie was 26 years old and worked as a pharmacy tech and as a substitute teacher. Just eleven days before their 2011 wedding, the happy couple signed a prenuptial agreement at the husband’s attorney’s office. In 2011, Abbie and Lauren, who had been living together for several years as boyfriend and girlfriend, married. Moral of the story : Know what you are signing. The Tennessee House Bill 1794 can be found here.Abbie Joseph Howell v. It will be a class D felony for a person, without authorization, to knowingly obtain, conceal, damage, or destroy the online notary public hardware in order to affix an official electronic signature and seal. The electronic record must include, among other things, a recording of any video and audio conference that is the basis for satisfactory evidence of identity and a notation of the type of identification presented as evidence. The online notary public must keep a secure electronic record of electronic notarizations for five years. Once approved by the Tennessee Secretary of State, the notary public will be able to electronically notarize, among other things, a document involving real estate located in Tennessee. If online notarization is utilized, the notary must amend his or her acknowledgement from “personally appeared” or “appeared before me” to “remotely appeared” or “remotely appeared before me.”Ī notary public will have to apply to the Tennessee Secretary of State to be commissioned as an online notary public. For administrative and rulemaking purposes, this act takes effect immediately, but for all other purposes the act takes effect July 1, 2019.Īlong with allowing an electronic signature as a form of original signature, the amendments will allow a person to personally appear by an interactive two-way audio and video communication that meets the online notarization requirements that will be promulgated by the Tennessee Secretary of State.
#Does a will have to be notarized in tn. code#
Tennessee recently passed companion bills Senate Bill 1758 and House Bill 1794 which amend Section 66-22-101 of the Tennessee Code Annotated to allow electronic notarizations.
