Habib v. Habib

212 N.Y.S.3d 140

227 A.D.3d 874

Eleanor Julia HABIB, respondent-appellant,

v.Naguib Tewfik HABIB, appellant-respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued—December 4, 2023

May 15, 2024

Brettschneider & Brettschneider LLP, Huntington, NY (Joseph Brettschneider of counsel), for appellant-respondent.

Hegge & Confusione, LLC, New York, NY (Michael J. Confusione of counsel), for respondent-appellant.

MARK C. DILLON, J.P., LINDA CHRISTOPHER, BARRY E. WARHIT, CARL J. LANDICINO, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the defendant appeals, and the plaintiff cross-appeals, from a judgment of divorce of the Supreme Court, Suffolk County (James F. Quinn, J.), entered September 27, 2019. The judgment of divorce, insofar as appealed from, upon a decision of the same court dated June 10, 2019, made after a nonjury trial, (1) awarded the plaintiff maintenance in the sum of $1,500 per month retroactive to the date the parties executed a stipulation dividing six parcels of real property, (2) awarded the plaintiff counsel fees in the sum of $25,000, and (3) failed to award the defendant credits for certain pendente lite payments and purported contributions of separate property made to maintain the parties’ six parcels of real property. The judgment of divorce, insofar as cross-appealed from, upon the decision, deemed certain bank accounts marital property subject to equitable distribution, to be divided equally between the parties.

ORDERED that the judgment of divorce is modified, on the law and the facts, (1) by deleting the provision thereof directing that the award of maintenance to the plaintiff shall be retroactive to the date the parties executed a stipulation dividing six parcels of real property, and substituting therefor a provision directing that the award of maintenance to the plaintiff shall be retroactive to the date of the entry of the judgment of divorce, (2) by deleting the provision thereof deeming an account at American Community Bank, account number ending in 1120, valued at $5,501.80, marital property subject to equitable distribution, to be divided equally between the parties, and substituting therefor a provision deeming the funds in that account to be the plaintiff’s separate property, and (3) by adding a provision thereto awarding the defendant a credit for monthly pendente lite payments made in excess of $1,500 per month from the date the parties executed the stipulation dividing the six parcels of real property to the date of the entry of the judgment of divorce; as so modified, the judgment of divorce is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for calculation of the monthly pendente lite payments made in excess of $1,500 to credit the defendant in accordance herewith and the entry of an appropriate amended judgment of divorce thereafter.

The parties were married in 1973 and have two adult children. The plaintiff commenced this action for a divorce and ancillary relief in May 2011. After a nonjury trial on the issues of, inter alia, main- tenance, equitable distribution, and counsel fees, the Supreme Court, among other things, deemed certain bank accounts marital property subject to equitable distribution, to be divided equally between the parties, awarded the plaintiff maintenance in the sum of $1,500 per month retroactive to the date the parties executed a stipulation dividing six parcels of real property, awarded the plaintiff counsel fees in the sum of $25,000, and failed to award the defendant credits for certain pendente lite payments and contributions of separate property purportedly made to maintain the parties’ six parcels of real property.

[1–3] "The amount and duration of spousal maintenance is an issue generally committed to the sound discretion of the trial court and each case is to be resolved upon its own unique facts and circumstances" (Kattan v. Kattan, 202 A.D.3d 771, 776, 163 N.Y.S.3d 170 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Silvers v. Silvers, 197 A.D.3d 1195, 1199, 153 N.Y.S.3d 548). In matrimonial actions commenced prior to amendments to the Domestic Relations Law, effective January 23, 2016, factors to be considered include "the standard of living of the parties, the income and property of the parties, the distribution of property, the duration of the marriage, the health of the parties, the present and future earning capacity of the parties, the ability of the party seeking maintenance to be self-supporting, the reduced or lost earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance, and the presence of children of the marriage in the respective homes of the parties" (Tuchman v. Turkman, 201 A.D.3d 986, 991, 162 N.Y.S.3d 414 [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Domestic Relations Law former § 236[B][6][a]; Gorman v. Gorman, 165 A.D.3d 1067, 1069, 86 N.Y.S.3d 554). Here, considering the relevant factors, including the ages and health of the parties, the lengthy duration of the marriage, the parties’ respective income and property, the parties’ present and future earning capacity, the distribution of property and the parties’ marital standard of living, the Supreme Court providently exercised its discretion in awarding the plaintiff maintenance in the sum of $1,500 per month.

[4] However, since the permanent maintenance award is not in excess of the Supreme Court’s temporary maintenance award, the parties correctly agree that the court erred in directing that the maintenance award be made retroactive to the date the parties executed the stipulation dividing the six parcels of real property (see Rodgers v. Rodgers, 98 A.D.2d 386, 389–390, 470 N.Y.S.2d 401; see also Gina, v. Gina, 248 A.D.2d 353, 354, 669 N.Y.S.2d 831).

[5, 6] The Domestic Relations Law provides that, "[i]n determining an equitable disposition of property …, the court shall consider: … any award of maintenance" (Domestic Relations Law § 236[B][5][d][6]; see Johnson v. Chapin, 12 N.Y.3d 461, 465–466, 881 N.Y.S.2d 373, 909 N.E.2d 66). "When a pendente lite award of maintenance is found at trial to be excessive or inequitable, the Court may make an appropriate adjustment in the equitable distribution award" (Johnson v. Chapin, 12 N.Y.3d at 466, 881 N.Y.S.2d 373, 909 N.E.2d 66; see Kaufman v. Kaufman, 189 A.D.3d 31, 70, 133 N.Y.S.3d 54; Bauman v. Bauman, 132 A.D.3d 791, 794, 19 N.Y.S.3d 58). Here, in a pendente lite order, the Supreme Court awarded the plaintiff temporary maintenance in the sum of $2,919 per month, and the court’s permanent award of maintenance was $1,500 per month. Given the disparity in the maintenance amounts, the defendant should be given a credit for the monthly pendente lite payments he made in excess of $1,500 from the date the parties execut- ed the stipulation dividing the six parcels of real property to the date of the entry of the judgment of divorce (see Johnson v. Chapin, 12 N.Y.3d at 466, 881 N.Y.S.2d 373, 909 N.E.2d 66).

[7] Contrary to the defendant’s contention, the Supreme Court properly declined to credit the defendant for his purported separate property contributions to improvements, maintenance, and repairs made to the parties’ six parcels of real property prior to the...