## Facts

- In 1931, V. I. Kyle (husband) and Gladys Kyle (wife), domiciled in Quebec, Canada, executed an antenuptial agreement in Quebec before a notary.
- Under Quebec practice, the agreement was valid even though it was not signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.
- The agreement provided, among other terms, that Gladys would relinquish dower rights.
- The couple separated around 1945.
- In 1955, V. I. bought real property in Florida and later wanted to transfer that Florida property to a corporation.
- Because Florida recognized dower, V. I. needed Gladys to join in the transfer or to execute a release of any dower claim; Gladys refused.
- V. I. filed a Florida declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that the Quebec antenuptial agreement was valid and binding in Florida and that Gladys had no dower rights in the Florida real estate.
- Gladys argued Florida law controlled because the property was in Florida and the agreement did not satisfy Florida’s form requirement for instruments affecting Florida real property, including the requirement of two subscribing witnesses.
- The trial court ruled for V. I., applying Quebec law and concluding the agreement barred Gladys’s Florida dower claim.
- Gladys appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Florida law (as the law of the situs of the land) or Quebec law (as the law of the place of contracting/domicile) governs the effectiveness of an antenuptial agreement to waive dower in Florida real property.
2. Whether an antenuptial agreement executed in Quebec without two subscribing witnesses can operate in Florida to bar a wife’s dower rights in Florida real estate.

## Decision

- The District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s declaratory judgment in favor of the husband.
- The court held that Florida law governs the validity and effect of an attempted waiver of dower in Florida real property.
- The court held the Quebec antenuptial agreement did not bar the wife’s Florida dower rights because it lacked the execution formalities Florida requires for instruments that convey interests in Florida land or relinquish dower, including execution in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with the appellate ruling.

## Legal Principles

- Rights in real property, and the formal validity and effect of instruments altering those rights, are governed by the law of the state where the land is located (lex rei sitae).
- Florida required that instruments affecting interests in Florida real estate, including a wife’s release of dower, be executed with the same formalities as a conveyance of real property, including two subscribing witnesses.
- A marital agreement valid where executed may still be ineffective in Florida to waive statutory interests in Florida land when the agreement does not meet Florida’s required execution formalities.
- Authority recognizing broad effectiveness of antenuptial agreements does not control when the dispute concerns waiver of dower in Florida real estate and Florida’s statutory form requirements.

## Conclusion

Because the dispute involved dower in Florida land, Florida law controlled; and because the Quebec antenuptial agreement was not executed with the two subscribing witnesses Florida required for an effective relinquishment of dower in Florida real property, the agreement did not bar the wife’s dower rights, requiring reversal of the declaratory judgment for the husband.


Kyle v. Kyle, 128 So. 2d 427 (1961)