Posts Tagged ‘evidence’

Appreciation of Separate Property and Equitable Distribution

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

One issue that periodically comes up in my divorce practice here in Rochester has to do with appreciation of separate property during the marriage.  I have previously written about this issue in the past.  A recent case decided by the Appellate Division, Third Department, Albanese v. Albanese, 2010 N.Y. Slip. Op. 00036 (3rd Dept. 2009), has illustrated a related aspect of this issue.  In Albanese, the critical issue before the court was whether or not the wife’s lawyer was able to establish how much the husband’s law practice has appreciated during the marriage.  In this type of situation, the divorce attorney has to be concerned about two different valuations.  The first one is the valuation of the business at the time of the marriage, and the second one is the valuation of the business at the time of commencement of the divorce action.

However, during the trial, the wife’s divorce attorney appears to have not established what the value of the law practice was at the time of the marriage.  The Appellate Division stated,

Here, the only evidence in the record regarding the value of defendant’s law practice related to the purported value at the time the divorce action was commenced. Plaintiff, who was represented by seasoned counsel and retained an experienced expert, presented no proof of a baseline value at the time of the marriage or of an appreciation in the value of the practice during the marriage. While plaintiff’s role as homemaker and mother to the parties’ children established that she was entitled to a share of any appreciation, there was no evidence offered from which appreciation could be found. Under such circumstances, an award for the value of the law practice was inappropriate.  (Citations omitted).

In such situations, the non-titled spouse bears the burden of proof, and any appreciation in value of such separate property may be subject to distribution if there is a nexus between the titled spouse’s efforts and the increase in value and those efforts were aided or facilitated by the nontitled spouse.  However, without the starting point value, the non-titled spouse simply could not prove her case. As a result, the wife has received no portion of the law practice that has likely appreciated since the parties’ marriage in 1987.

The above illustrates that sometimes even the most obvious issues occasionally escape the attention of counsel.  Therefore, the Appellate Division’s reference to the plaintiff’s attorney as “seasoned counsel” and her expert as “experienced expert” indicates its likely surprise that this issue was overlooked during the trial.

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Posted in Domestic Relations Law, New York Law, Supreme Court, divorce, equitable distribution, evidence | No Comments »

What Is Required to Obtain Divorce On Constructive Abandonment Grounds in New York

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

I have previously written about New York’s grounds for divorce, including constructive abandonment.  Simply put, constructive abandonment occurs when one spouse refuses to have sexual relations with the other, without excuse or justification, for a period of one year preceding the filing of the action for divorce.  Further, case law has established that the abandonment must continue despite repeated requests from the other spouse for resumption of cohabitation. When looking at divorce actions based on constructive abandonment grounds, a lawyer must make an inquiry whether spousal relations were requested, how many times, and over what period of time.   Until recently, it was not clear how many times a spouse must make such request.  The courts have held previously that “..evidence that the other spouse refused a single request to engage in sexual relations is insufficient to establish a cause of action on the grounds of constructive abandonment.”  Archibald v. Archibald, 15 A.D.3d 431 (2nd Dept. 2005).

The answer to this question has been somewhat clarified by a recent decision.  In BM v. MM, 2009 N.Y. Slip. Op. 29235 (Sup. Ct Nassau Co. 2009), the court held that a husband’s refusal to have sex with his wife three times within a year was enough to grant the wife divorce on the grounds of constructive abandonment.  The wife testified that she could remember three occasions where she made such requests which the defendant denied and the court credited her testimony. The husband argued that since the wife had made no attempt during the last five years to have sex with him, the grounds for constructive abandonment were not established. The court held that it has recognized that there comes a time in such relationships where it would clearly be futile for one spouse to continue to ask the other to engage in sexual relations. It further found that where the defendant, on his own, moved out of the marital bedroom and into a room on a separate floor and refuses a request, after that the plaintiff should be relieved of any requirement to continue to ask for sexual relations.

The above facts demonstrate that a New York divorce lawyer must be prepared to present specific factual testimony in order to obtain a divorce on the grounds of constructive abandonment. Unfortunately, it also demonstrates that in order to establish constructive abandonment grounds in New York, requires intrusions into marital privacy and disclosure of information most parties would rather keep private. The decision discussed above reinforces my opinion that New York needs to abandon its fault grounds for divorce. No-fault divorce, based upon the breakdown of a marriage, would dispense with the need for intrusions into the marital relationship. Forcing parties to accept fault or be found at fault is time consuming and costly, and generates unnecessary bitterness during the divorce process.

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Posted in Domestic Relations Law, Family Law, New York Law, Supreme Court, divorce, grounds | No Comments »