ALBANY (AP) - New York's top court says a couple's 1965 French marriage contract determines their divorce property settlement, trumping a New York law that would have required "equitable distribution" of their collective assets.

The Court of Appeals, in a unanimous ruling, says the agreement signed by Claire and Gregory Van Kipnis under the French Civil Code to establish separate ownership of assets "constitutes an unambiguous prenuptial contract."

The judges upheld the majority decision of a divided midlevel court.

The couple spent most of their 38-year marriage in New York. Claire Van Kipnis acquired about $800,000 working as a professor and cultural counselor, while her husband acquired about $7 million during a career in finance. They jointly owned two homes.