—Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed with costs to plaintiff in accordance with the following Memorandum: In this divorce action, Supreme Court determined that each party had established grounds for divorce, but, upon the stipulation of the parties, the preparation of the judgment of divorce was deferred until all financial issues are determined. A trial was conducted on plaintiffs fourth and fifth causes of action seeking to invalidate the parties’ antenuptial agreement, which provided, inter alia, that, in the event of a divorce, neither party would seek equitable distribution of the other’s property and that all property acquired after the marriage would remain the property of the person in whose name it was acquired. At the conclusion of trial, the court made findings with respect to the circumstances surrounding the presentation and execution of the antenuptial agreement.
There is no dispute that the final antenuptial agreement was executed after much discussion at the office of plaintiffs lawyer on the day before the wedding and against the advice of plaintiffs lawyer, or that the agreement was subscribed by the parties and acknowledged pursuant to the requirements of Domestic Relations Law § 236 (B) (3). During the evening before the wedding, plaintiff discussed her unhappiness with the antenuptial agreement with friends who had arrived to attend the wedding. Later that evening, defendant telephoned plaintiff, and she told him that they should cancel the wedding. Defendant then came to plaintiffs house and, in the presence of plaintiff and her friends, including defendant’s best man, defendant presented plaintiff with a letter that he said he had intended to give her the next day. The letter was signed by defendant; it was undated but bore the caption “Friday” (Friday Letter). The Friday Letter states that “our marriage assets accumulated after our marriage will be split V2 V2 for it will be garnered together”. Plaintiff read the letter but was not reassured and again told defendant that the marriage should be cancelled, whereupon defendant sat down at the kitchen table and wrote out the following provisions on a piece of paper, referred to at trial as the Five Point Document: “1. All assets prior to 7/16 are frozen, 2. all acquired property or other equities after 7/16 are to be in both names, 3. pay for all learned
The court determined that the Friday Letter and the Five Point Document were generated subsequent to the execution of the parties’ antenuptial agreement; that the three documents satisfied the requirements of Domestic Relations Law § 236 (B) (3); and that the three documents were “grafted” together and constituted an integrated agreement. The court adjudged, however, that it was unable to determine whether it would be unconscionable “to enforce the promises made by the Defendant to the Plaintiff after the execution of the Agreement” and reserved decision until after completion of financial discovery.
Initially, we reject the contention of defendant that the factual findings of the court are not supported by sufficient evidence and are against the weight of the evidence. The court’s findings are sufficiently supported in the record (see, Public Serv. Mut. Ins. Co. v Hollander,
We reject the further contention of defendant that the Friday Letter and the Five Point Document are unenforceable because they fail to meet the requirements of Domestic Relations Law § 236 (B) (3). That subdivision provides that “[a]n agreement by the parties, made before or during the marriage, shall be valid and enforceable in a matrimonial action if such agreement is in writing, subscribed by the parties, and acknowledged or proven in the manner required to entitle a deed to be recorded.”
Here, the antenuptial agreement consists of the original agreement, as modified by the Friday Letter and Five Point Document. An agreement may consist of signed and unsigned writings, “provided that they clearly refer to the same subject matter or transaction” (Crabtree v Elizabeth Arden Sales Corp.,
Similarly, the contention of defendant that the Friday Letter and the Five Point Document violate the Statute of Frauds (General Obligations Law § 5-701 [a] [1]) is without merit. “The statute of frauds does not require the ‘memorandum * * * to be in one document. It may be pieced together out of separate writings, connected with one another either expressly or by the internal evidence of subject matter and occasion’ [citations omitted]” (Crabtree v Elizabeth Arden Sales Corp., supra, at 54). The original agreement and Friday Letter were signed by defendant, and the Five Point Document merely amplified and explained the language in the Friday Letter. “The signed and unsigned writings, when read together, provide all essential terms of the contract and clearly refer to the same transaction” (American Linen Supply Co. v Penn Yan Mar. Mfg. Corp.,
Although the antenuptial agreement provides that it “may only be modified or amended by a written modification agreement duly executed by the parties”, that provision was waived by defendant in drafting the Friday Letter, which was “in writing and signed by [defendant,] the party against whom enforcement of the change is sought” (General Obligations Law § 15-301 [1]).
We also reject the contention of defendant that our prior decision (Rupert v Rupert,