Lysa TerKeurst Files Motion To Dismiss Counterclaims, Requests Arbitration

The divorce proceedings between well-known Christian author, speaker, and founder of Proverbs 31 Ministries Lysa TerKeurst and her husband, Art, grow increasingly strained with a recent court filing containing more details of the couple’s marital troubles.

The TerKeursts had been separated for over a year, and Lysa filed for a divorce in December 2021. Art responded in February, seeking alimony and to set aside a post-nuptial agreement that the couple signed in 2016 after their first separation. 

On April 11, Lysa entered a motion to dismiss Art’s counterclaims, a request to compel arbitration, and a reply to his allegations.

Lysa claims in her pleadings that the post-nuptial agreement that Art seeks to set aside as fraudulent was entered into freely, that Art had “ample opportunity to consult with legal counsel,” and therefore it is valid. She added that Art consulted with an attorney and confirmed his “right to consult with legal counsel” when signing the post-nuptial agreement. 

She also points out that the post-nuptial agreement contains an arbitration provision the court should enforce, adding that she has requested arbitration and submitted possible arbitrators three times, but Art has refused to agree and has not proposed any alternatives.

In his earlier response to the petition for divorce, Art had alleged he was under duress to enter the post-nuptial agreement because he was suicidal and about to enter a treatment program for alcoholism. 

Lysa’s reply alleges Art voluntarily withdrew from the alcohol treatment program without completing it, that his allegations of being suicidal are false, and that Art has exhibited “narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies” over the years.

She adds there is no evidence of any communications from Lysa, family members, or friends that “were harassing in nature or demanded” that Art sign the post-nuptial agreement.

Art also claimed he thought their reconciliation in 2018 was a “fresh start” and that the post-nuptial agreement no longer applied. However, Lysa asserts the couple “maintained completely separate financial accounts pursuant to the post-nuptial agreement” even after their reconciliation.

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In her motion to dismiss Art’s counterclaims, Lysa argues that Art ratified the post-nuptial agreement by his actions, such as executing special warrant deeds for property, that his claim voiding the post-nuptial agreement is barred by a three-year statute of limitations, and the “constructive fraud” claim alleged by Art to set aside the post-nuptial agreement is invalid because Lysa and Art were not in “fiduciary relationship” as required by law.

In his February response to Lysa’s petition for divorce, Art sought both post-separation support and alimony. He claimed to be a “faithful and dutiful spouse.” 

Lysa replied that both post-separation support and alimony ought to be denied because Art admitted to engaging in “illicit sexual behavior.” North Carolina law bars alimony, and likewise post-separation support, when one spouse engages in illicit sexual behavior. 

The pleadings contain a series of text messages between Art and “Mistress X,” whom he allegedly met on the website SugarDaddy.com.

He allegedly spent at least $118,000 of the TerKeursts’ money on the relationship, including paying for the mistress to move from Atlanta to Charlotte (near where Art resided), and buying her a “pre-engagement left hand ring.”

Despite including the text messages between Art and his mistress, Lysa states in her reply that she “has chosen to reserve providing additional examples of Defendant/Husband’s abhorrent behavior in an effort to protect the privacy of her children and grandchildren.”