Tilsen v. Benson

Summary

The court affirmed the judgment dissolving the marriage and upheld the refusal to enforce the parties’ ketubah as a prenuptial agreement. Because the ketubah did not specify the parties’ support and property obligations upon dissolution and the rabbinical evidence conflicted, enforcing it would have required the court to interpret religious law in violation of the establishment clause. The court also upheld the financial orders, concluding that the trial court properly calculated earning capacity and did not abuse its discretion in awarding alimony or a share of future real-estate distributions.