Coxwell v. Coxwell, 296 Ga. 311

In Coxwell v. Coxwell (Georgia Supreme Court, 2014), Husband appeals denial of enforcement of a lost antenuptial agreement.
Husband and Wife married in 1995; Wife filed for divorce in 2012; agreement is claimed to be valid but lost.
Trial court held neither party destroyed the document; both testified honestly about their memories of its terms.
Trial court could not ascertain terms from the evidence and denied enforcement and any declaratory judgment.
Court resolves that the standard of proof for contents of a lost antenuptial agreement is preponderance of the evidence.
Appellate court affirms, concluding Husband failed to prove terms by a preponderance and no reversible error in credibility findings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Standard of proof for lost antenuptial agreement contents	Husband supports preponderance of the evidence	Wife seeks clear and convincing standard	Preponderance of the evidence applies
Proper application of the standard and credibility findings	Husband believed terms shown by preponderance	Wife credibility and memories negate proof	Trial court’s findings upheld; no clear error

Dove v. Dove, 285 Ga. 647 (2009) (enforceability criteria for antenuptial agreements; no heightened standard mentioned)
Scherer v. Scherer, 249 Ga. 635 (1982) (criteria for antenuptial agreements; no heightened standard of proof)
Jefferson Pilot Fire & Cas. Co. v. Prickett, 176 Ga. App. 810 (1985) (secondary evidence of lost documents; contents proved by competent evidence)
Langley v. Langley, 279 Ga. 374 (2005) (deference to trial court on credibility and factual findings)
Estate of Patterson v. Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth., 233 Ga. App. 706 (1998) (definition of preponderance of evidence standard)