Amber J. v. Shannon J., 16-0289

Amber and Shannon married in March 2008; Shannon suffered catastrophic workplace injuries in April 2008 and later sued his employer.
In June 2011, anticipating settlement, the parties executed a postnuptial agreement allocating settlement proceeds; the agreement was drafted by the same attorney (Scott Kaminsky) for both spouses.
No financial statements were prepared or exchanged in connection with the agreement; Kaminsky testified he advised both parties of the right to independent counsel, and Amber declined to retain separate counsel.
The personal-injury case settled for $2,365,000, with the parties receiving about $1,800,000.
Family Court (Oct. 2015) held the postnuptial agreement invalid, finding joint representation and lack of financial disclosure contrary to law; Circuit Court (Feb. 2016) reversed and ordered enforcement.
West Virginia Supreme affirmed the circuit court, holding the agreement valid and the appeal properly before the circuit court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Amber)	Defendant's Argument (Shannon)	Held
Validity of postnuptial where same attorney drafted and met with both parties	Agreement is void because one attorney cannot represent both parties in a premarital/postnuptial agreement	Agreement is enforceable where parties acted voluntarily, were told of right to independent counsel, and terms were understood	Court held agreement valid; Ware allows enforceability without mandatory independent counsel if agreement was voluntary and understandable
Sufficiency of financial disclosures	Agreement invalid for lack of exchanged financial disclosures and potential misrepresentation	Parties jointly negotiated settlement proceeds and had equal knowledge; no misrepresentation of the specific settlement amount	Court held lack of general disclosures did not void this narrowly tailored agreement concerning a known settlement; no evidence of misrepresentation
Finality / appealability of family court order	Family court order was interlocutory (not final) because divorce was not concluded; thus circuit court lacked jurisdiction	Family court expressly labeled order final and it disposed of validity of agreement, a prerequisite to further divorce proceedings	Court held the order was a final, appealable family-court order and the circuit court properly heard the appeal

Carr v. Hancock, 216 W.Va. 474, 607 S.E.2d 803 (2004) (standards of review for circuit-court review of family-court orders)
Ware v. Ware, 224 W.Va. 599, 687 S.E.2d 382 (2009) (independent counsel helpful but not per se required for enforceability of premarital/postnuptial agreements)