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Contribution of Separate Property to Purchase of Jointly-Owned Marital...
A spouse contributing separate property (most commonly pre-marital, gifted, or inherited funds) to the purchase of the marital residence does not make a gift of (half of) that payment to the other...
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Husband Gets No Separate Property Credit in Divorce for Pre-marital Home...
In its December 13, 2012 decision in Murrary v. Murray, the Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed the determination to deny a husband an equitable distribution credit for the value of a home...
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Credits on Divorce for Using Marital Funds for Separate Property Assets
The August 21, 2013 decision of the Appellate Division, Second Department in Patete v. Rodriguez may have expanded the credits available to the non-titled spouse when marital funds are expended on a...
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Applying the Ambiguous SUNY-Capped Contribution-to-College Clause
Where a divorce settlement agreement contains a SUNY cap on the parents’ obligations to contribute to college expenses, do you subtract financial aid first from the SUNY cap, or first from the total...
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Crediting Voluntary Payments Against Retroactive Support Awards
For what expenses will a support payor (here, the husband) receive credit against the retroactive support award made incident to the final divorce determination? The Second Department clarified the...
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Husband Denied Millions in Separate Property Credits Because of the...
It depended on what the definition of “the” was. In Babbio v. Babbio, the Appellate Division, First Department, on July 17, 2014 defined “the” and otherwise interpreted a prenuptial agreement in ways...
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Wife Denied Separate Property Credit Against Home Deeded By Her to Herself...
Six years before the parties’ marriage in June 2000, the wife became the sole owner of real property, which would later become the parties’ marital residence. At the time of marriage, the wife owned...
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Separate Property Credit Granted For Home Down Payment, But Sale of Home...
In its January 8, 2015 decision in Albertalli v Albertalli, the Appellate Division, Third Department, upheld the granting of a separate property credit to a husband for the contribution of his separate...
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“I’m Moving In With Daddy”: The Child Support Perspective (Part II)
In contrast to its decision in Zaratzian, the subject of yesterday’s blog post, the Second Department, in Eagar v. Suchan, held the same day that a father was entitled to receive child support from a...
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Crediting Child Support With Payments for College Expenses
Should a court reinterpret a divorce settlement agreement in light of New York’s public policy? It is one thing to void a contract provision as violative of that policy. It’s another to pretend that...
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Tracing One Spouse’s Pre-Marital Home Sold During Marriage To Purchase Another
What do you do upon divorce when the home purchased during the marriage and titled in one spouse’s name was purchased using the proceeds from the sale of the home owned at the date of marriage solely...
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You Can’t Make A Gift To Your Married Child Without Getting The Lawyers Involved
The ever-changing landscape of Equitable Distribution case law makes it difficult, if not impossible, to rely on the “law.” A parent cannot (or rather, should not) make a gift to a married child...
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Charging a Party for Spending Marital Assets During the Divorce Action
The filing of a divorce summons commences the action and terminates the marital economic partnership. As noted by the Court of Appeals in Mesholam v. Mesholam, 11 N.Y.3d 24, 27, 862 N.Y.S.2d 453...
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Representing Yourself In Child Support Proceedings Has Its Risks
It is understandable that parents who “cannot afford” a lawyer will attempt to represent themselves in Family Court child support proceedings. Moreover, the Family Court is remarkably able to apply the...
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Child Support and Social Security Disability Payments Received for the...
In a recent decision of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Holeck v. Beyel, 145 A.D.3d 1600, 43 N.Y.S.2d 816, the court upheld a direction to a disabled father (the non-custodial parent) to...
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Travel Expenses Credit Against Child Support Reduced on Appeal
In its July 5, 2017 decision in Decillis v. Decillis, the Appellate Division, Second Department, recognized, but significantly reduced a credit against a formula child support obligation for the...
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Waiver of Future Child Support Voided, But Miscalculated Credit Struck
In its March 21, 2018 decision in Elkins v. Mizrahi, the Appellate Division, Second Department, struck a credit issued at the time a father’s new child support obligation was established. That...
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Make Sure That All Issues May Be Addressed on Your Divorce Appeal
Generally, it is the more “successful” spouse who submits the proposed judgment of divorce to the Court to be signed and entered. In all events, a spouse who intends to take an appeal on an issue must...
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“I’m Moving In With Daddy”: The Child Support Perspective (Part II)
In contrast to its decision in Zaratzian, the subject of yesterday’s blog post, the Second Department, in Eagar v. Suchan, held the same day that a father was entitled to receive child support from a...
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Crediting Child Support With Payments for College Expenses
Should a court reinterpret a divorce settlement agreement in light of New York’s public policy? It is one thing to void a contract provision as violative of that policy. It’s another to pretend that...
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