Gavel 2.jpgElevating substance over form, Supreme Court Monroe County Acting Justice Richard A. Dollinger allowed a husband to amend his complaint in a 2009 divorce action to add a no-fault claim under D.R.L. §170(7), effective October 12, 2012.

Justice Dollinger in his April 16, 2012 decision in G.C. v. G.C. (pdf), noted New York’s public policy is to freely grant permission to amend complaints. The wife objected, noting that the Legislature expressly limited no-fault claims to actions commenced after its effective date.

D.R.L. §170(7) permits a divorce to be granted upon the sworn declaration of a party that the marriage has been “irretrievably broken down for a period of six months.” Justice Dollinger stated that the Legislature’s limitation of such a no-fault ground to actions commenced after the October 12, 2010 effective date of the statute, was satisfied by requiring that no such claim could be raised by amended complaint until six months after the effective date.

When the husband moves to amend his complaint to add a cause of action under Section 170(7), he does not violate the language of the statute or the intention of the Legislature, Instead, he seeks to. invoke what the Legislature extended to him: a cause of action that has ripened because more than six months have passed since the date of the amendment and during that time, the husband swears that his marriage has been irretrievably broken.

Continue Reading Judge Allows No-fault Divorce Claim to be Added to Pre-No-fault Case