In a May 8, 2013 decision in Mejia v. Mejia, the Appellate Division, Second Department, modified a divorce judgment’s provisions concerning the cap on combined parental income, the disposition of the marital residence, college expenses for three children ages 14, 10 and 6, and judgment inconsistencies with the underlying decision and judgment formalities. After the … Continue Reading
What does a court do with a wife who claims not to have discovered that she was a million-dollar winner of a May 19, 2011 lottery drawing until only days before the ticket would have expired a year later, and 11 months after she was awarded temporary support and counsel fees in her pending divorce action? … Continue Reading
The First Department, in its February 19, 2013 decision in David v. Cruz, threw out an entire settlement agreement because of its failure to include language required by the Child Support Standards Act. The C.S.S.A. sets out a presumptive formula for the calculation of a parent’s child support obligation. Parents are free to agree to … Continue Reading
In a February 13, 2013 decision. the Second Department in Braun v. Abenanti directed a father to pay his child’s orthodontist directly and also directed that the mother’s petition for an upward modification of child support be granted. Doing so, the Second Department reversed Family Court, Suffolk County Judge Richard Hoffmann, who in turn had denied the … Continue Reading
Two decisions within the last 10 days confirm the need for agreements relating to support to be in (an acknowledged) writing, and then incorporated in a court order. In one, the Second Department affirmed the award of maintenance arrears without a hearing despite the claimed reduction of maintenance under an oral modification of the parties’ … Continue Reading
Update: May 23, 2013: Robert Sand pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip today to two counts of failing to pay child support. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Bode, Mr. Sand owes more than $1.2 million, including interest and penalties, to three children from two failed marriages. Sand faces up to four years in … Continue Reading
Two decisions last month of Queens County Supreme Court Justice Pam Jackman Brown provide insights on how courts might cope with the overlap of the statutory temporary maintenance formula and the payment of marital residence carrying charges. Yesterdays blog reported upon the Second Department’s November 21, 2012 agreement in Woodford v. Woodford with the First Department in Khaira v. Khaira … Continue Reading
Is it proper, at the conclusion of a divorce action, to offset pendente lite child support arrears against the support obligor’s right to receive a share of the custodial parent’s pension or other deferred compensation plan assets? That question was apparently answered in the affirmative by the Appellate Division, Third Department, in its October … Continue Reading
In last week’s blog, I discussed the extraordinary analysis undertaken by Monroe County Supreme Court Justice Richard A. Dollinger in L.L. v. R.L. in order to apply the agreement made by parents at the time of their divorce to finance their children’s college education “according to their respective means at the time the child attends college.” On … Continue Reading
“It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” Bill Clinton, August 17, 1998 “What does “means” mean?” Justice Richard A. Dollinger, June 22, 2012 By statute, a court may direct a parent to contribute to a child’s education, even in the absence of special circumstances or a voluntary agreement of the parties. … Continue Reading
Under a 2004 stipulation of settlement that was incorporated, but survived the entry of the judgment of divorce that ended the parties seven-year marriage, the ex-husband/father was to pay $250,000.00 in annual maintenance and $140,000.00 in annual child support emancipated. The stipulation further provided that the father would be able to apply for a reduction … Continue Reading
What are the support rights and obligations of a couple who have habitually lived often the generosity of their parents? That was the question Monroe County Suprme Court Justice Richard A. Dollinger answered in his July 23, 2012 decision in G.R.P. v. L.B.P. when determining temporary support. The divorcing couple have been married for 20 years … Continue Reading
Update: In a decision issued December 6, 2012, the Appellate Division, Third Department, disbarred Mr. Melendez for his failure to disclose to the Committee on Professional Standards his child support arrears and other related misconduct: Respondent is guilty of very serious professional misconduct. He exhibited a lack of candor on his application for admission. As … Continue Reading
Parents sometimes enter child support agreements which track the presumptive formula set out in New York’s Child Support Standards Act (Family Court Act §413; Domestic Relations Law §240[1-b]). However, parents in their agreements often deviate from the presumptive formula to reflect various considerations. That deviation for a married couple may reflect the delicate balancing of property rights, … Continue Reading
In a stipulation which settled a prior dispute between parents, the father agreed to pay child support. The mother had sole custody of the parties’ child. The father thereafter commenced a Nassau County Family Court proceeding to terminate his child support obligation. Upon the mother’s motion, Support Magistrate Penelope Beck Cahn dismissed the father’s petition. … Continue Reading
Two cases this month discussed the treatment of employer-provided fringe benefits in child support determinations. In his May 14, 2012 decision in K.W. v. M.W., Onondaga County Family Court Judge Michael L. Hanuszczak rejected a father’s objections to the determination of a Support Magistrate. While doing so, Judge Hanuszczak considered the impact of certain union fringe … Continue Reading
Particularly when it comes to agreements fixing child support obligations, ”shaking on it” is simply not enough. Both the Domestic Relations Law and the Family Court Act authorize parents to enter agreements which establish their child support obligations. DRL §§236B(3) and 240(1-b)(h) and FCA §413(1)(h) set out many requirements for such agreements. Nothing suggests that modifications … Continue Reading
When a judge works this hard to provide a searching analysis of a difficult question, we should sit up and take notice. Should an unemployed father be required to prove why he should not have to relocate to seek/obtain employment in his field as a condition to him receiving a downward modification of his child … Continue Reading
The parties’ 2008 Separation Agreement which resolved their divorce provided for joint legal custody of the parties’ two children, with their primary residence being with the mother. Nine months after the divorce, the mother remarried and moved to her new husband’s residence in Florida. The children remained in New York with their father. The parties … Continue Reading
In my December 12, 2011 blog, I discussed the October 14, 2011 decision of New York County Supreme Court Justice Matthew F. Cooper, directing a father to pay 40% of his child’s private college expenses. In its April 24, 2012 decision in Tishman v. Bogatin, the First Department affirmed. A parent’s contribution to a child’s college education would … Continue Reading
If a judge, and particularly one held in as high regard as former New York County Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline W. Silberman, tells you that you have contributed to your “fractured relationship” with your child and recommends counseling/therapy, you should probably follow the advice. The parents of a now-19 year old son have been engaged … Continue Reading
Allowing a state of facts to exist for a period of time without objection will often lead a court to continue those facts. Here, the court required a father to contribute to the cost of his son’s private school education, where the child had been attending the school for some 10 years, even though a scholarship … Continue Reading
“There is a gap in New York’s child support statutes. They do not contemplate a custodial parent paying support to a non-custodial parent. The Family Court Act does declare that both parents are chargeable with the support of their children. Moreover, the Family Court Act does not make a distinction between the “custodial” and “non–custodial” … Continue Reading
A recent decision of the Appellate Division, Third Department, appears to unduly expand the basis upon which a parent may be obligated to contribute to the college education expenses of a child beyond age 21. Generally, a parent’s obligation to support a child terminates when the child reaches age 21. That general rule, of course, … Continue Reading
