Ex-MLB pitcher Carl Pavano's ex-wife challenges one-sided prenup in divorce fight

The divorce of former MLB pitcher Carl Pavano and his ex-wife, Alissa, has turned contentious over their prenuptial agreement.

Court documents show Alissa claims Carl demanded she sign the one-sided prenup. She says she had given up her residence, potential employment and all financial independence due to his ongoing controlling behavior. That included name-calling, cutting off her expenses and threats to take their children.

Police responded to their shared home in Connecticut nine times in the last two years, most recently on April 29, according to CT Insider.

Alissa's lawyers argued in a brief that a prenup is an acceptable way for individuals before marriage to set financial terms after marriage. "It should not be an acceptable way for a monied spouse who has already started a family with his significant other to force her to give up her financial independence, and then to extract financial advantages in the premarital agreement under the threat of taking the minor children away from her and leaving her destitute," they wrote, via the New York Post.

Documents indicate the prenup signing was videotaped after Alissa's $500 consultation with her attorney.

State Superior Court Judge Thomas O'Neill upheld the prenup as valid. He awarded Alissa $300,000 and ordered Carl to buy her a $1 million home. Carl's net worth exceeded $43 million when the trial began.

The couple married in 2011, signed the prenup shortly after and started divorce proceedings in 2024. The ruling came last year.