Postnuptial Against Public Policy

In Stutz v. Stutz, the Tennessee Court of Appeals rejected a postnuptial agreement because part of the consideration was the husband's agreement to adopt a child.

The parties had been unable to have a child, and they looked into adoption. When a child became available, the wife wanted to adopt but the husband did not. To gain the husband's assent, the wife offered to enter into a postnuptial agreement giving most of the marital estate to the husband. Then, if the husband was unhappy with the adoption, he could take the money and run.

The court held that selling consent to an adoption was against public policy, and it declared the postnuptial agreement void.