In Simeone v. Simeone (1990), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the enforceability of a prenuptial agreement signed the day before the wedding, even though the wife did not have a lawyer. The court ruled that prenuptial agreements are contracts and should be evaluated using traditional contract principles. As long as the agreement is not obtained through fraud, misrepresentation, or duress—and there has been full and fair financial disclosure—it will generally be upheld. The court emphasized that parties are bound by what they sign, even if they don’t fully understand every term or get a “good deal.” This enforces the idea of the freedom of contract and that prenups in Pennsylvania are enforceable even if only one party had an attorney—so long as the agreement was voluntary and financially transparent.

In Porreco v. Porreco (2003), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a prenuptial agreement was valid and could not be thrown out just because the wife claimed her husband lied about how much her engagement ring was worth . The Court said that even if the husband did exaggerate the value ($21,000 when it wasn’t even a real diamond), the wife had the ring in her possession and could have gotten it appraised before signing the agreement. Because she didn’t, the Court found that her trust in his statement wasn’t “reasonable” enough to cancel the prenup. The big takeaway? If you’re entering into a prenup, it’s up to you to check the facts—especially when it comes to your own property.