Ratify

Subscribe to Ratify via RSS

In its November 23, 2016 decision in Gardella v. Remizov, the Second Department upheld an improperly-executed 2002 postnuptial agreement on the basis of ratification, and a 2006 postnuptial agreement alleged to be unconscionable, but sent the matter back to the trial court for financial disclosure and an inquiry to consider the parties’ 2010 separation agreement.

The parties to this matrimonial action were married in 2000. In October 2002, the parties entered into a postnuptial agreement which provided, among other things, that the marital residence and the wife’s private medical practice were the wife’s separate property. In 2006, the parties entered into a second postnuptial agreement which provided that four parcels of real property in Florida acquired by the parties during the marriage had been purchased with the wife’s separate property, and further addressed the distribution of those four parcels in the event of a divorce.

In 2010, the parties entered into a separation agreement, which addressed, inter alia, issues of maintenance and equitable distribution of the parties’ respective assets. At the time, the wife, a neurologist, was earning approximately $600,000 per year, and the husband, a wine salesman, was earning approximately $40,000. The separation agreement provided, among other things, that the husband would have no interest in any of the assets acquired during the parties’ marriage, including six parcels of real property, the wife’s partnership interest in a neurological practice, and the wife’s bank and brokerage accounts. The husband also waived his right to spousal maintenance. The husband was not represented by counsel when he executed the separation agreement.Continue Reading Upholding Marital Agreements: 2+ out of 3

pen in the man's hand and signature

Among their powers notaries public administer oaths and receive and certify acknowledgments or proof of deeds and other instruments in writing (Executive Law §135). An acknowledgement provides proof of the identity of the purported signatory of a document. It reads (Real Property Law §309-a):

On the ____ day of ____ in the year ____ before me, the undersigned, personally appeared ____, personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the individual(s) whose name(s) is (are) subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their capacity(ies), and that by his/her/their signature(s) on the instrument, the individual(s), or the person upon behalf of which the individual(s) acted, executed the instrument.

Domestic Relations Law §236(B)(3) provides that an agreement made before or during the marriage, shall be valid and enforceable in a matrimonial action if such agreement is in writing, subscribed by the parties, and acknowledged . . . .”

Parties often will resolve their divorce actions through with Separation Agreements or Stipulations of Settlements, the terms of which are incorporated in their Judgment of Divorce. Those agreements and stipulations often survive the entry of the Judgment of Divorce as independently enforceable contracts.

In his  June 10, 2015 decision in Defilippi v. Defillipi, Westchester County Supreme Court Justice Paul I. Marx, held that agreements that are entered within pending divorce actions and conclude those actions need not be acknowledged. They must only meet the requirements of C.P.L.R. 2104 and, if not entered in open court, be written, signed and filed with the county clerk.Continue Reading Stipulations Resolving Divorce Actions Need Not Be Acknowledged