Brody v Brody |
2016 NY Slip Op 01630 [137 AD3d 830] |
March 9, 2016 |
Appellate Division, Second Department |
Published by New York State Law Reporting
Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
As corrected through Wednesday, April 27, 2016 |
[*1]
Neil Irwin Brody, Respondent, v Lauren Justine
Brody, Appellant. |
Gary P. Field, Huntington, NY, for appellant.
Gassman Baiamonte Betts, P.C., Garden City, NY (Stephen Gassman and Cheryl Y.
Mallis of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal from a judgment of divorce of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Hope
Schwartz Zimmerman, J.), entered June 10, 2014. The judgment of divorce, insofar as
appealed from, awarded the defendant the sum of only $13,000 per month for a period of
24 months as spousal maintenance commencing on May 1, 2014, and failed to award the
defendant reimbursement for certain medical insurance premiums and medical
expenses.
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The parties in this action for a divorce and ancillary relief were formerly married.
They divorced from each other in 1995. They subsequently reconciled and had two
children. In January 2001, the parties remarried and had one more child. Approximately
61/2 years after the parties remarried, the plaintiff commenced this action.
As relevant to this appeal, the court, after a trial, awarded the defendant the sum of
$13,000 per month in spousal maintenance for a period of 24 months. The court declined
to award the defendant reimbursement for medical insurance premiums and
unreimbursed medical expenses that she paid during the pendency of the litigation. On
this appeal, the defendant challenges various aspects of the spousal maintenance award,
including its commencement date and amount, and challenges the failure to reimburse
her medical insurance premiums and unreimbursed medical expenses.
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 (see
generally Samimi v Samimi, 134 AD3d 1010 [2015]; Gonzalez v Garcia, 134 AD3d
989 [2015]). Here, the record established that the parties had been married for
approximately 61/2 years when the plaintiff commenced this action. It also
established that the defendant was 48 years old at the time of the divorce, that she will
not be the primary caretaker for the children, and she can pursue full-time employment.
The record further established that the defendant had been awarded $8,000 in monthly
child support payments. The Supreme Court found, however, that the defendant had not
utilized the child support award primarily for the benefit of the children. The court
additionally found that the defendant had not, over the course of this very lengthy
litigation, taken any steps to prepare herself for a career despite having had the ability
and opportunity to do so. These findings, based largely on the court's assessment of
witness credibility, are supported by the record (see Kerley [*2]v Kerley, 131
AD3d 1124, 1125 [2015]). Contrary to the defendant's contention, the record does
not establish that a higher award was needed in order for her to maintain the lifestyle the
parties enjoyed during the marriage. The evidence established that the plaintiff earned a
substantial income from his medical practice, but not that the parties' lifestyle was so
lavish that the award of $13,000 per month was inadequate to meet her needs.
Accordingly, the court's spousal maintenance award in that amount was not an
improvident exercise of discretion (cf. Lucere v Lucere, 109 AD3d 796, 798 [2013];
Newton v Newton, 246 AD2d 765 [1998]). Additionally, after considering the
evidence in light of the relevant statutory factors (see Domestic Relations Law
§ 236 [B] [6]), the court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in
providing that the spousal maintenance would be for a period of only 24 months (cf.
Granade-Bastuck v Bastuck, 249 AD2d 444, 445-446 [1998]).
Finally, the Supreme Court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in providing
that the award of spousal maintenance would be prospective only, and that the plaintiff
would not be required to reimburse the defendant for the cost of medical insurance
premiums and unreimbursed medical expenses that she paid. These determinations were
supported by, among other things, the court's findings that: the defendant utilized a
significant portion of the $8,000 per month child support payments to cover her own
personal expenses; the defendant had the ability to become self-supporting during the
litigation, but "made other choices"; and the plaintiff adequately provided for the needs
of the defendant and the parties' children during the entire pendency of this litigation (see Grumet v Grumet, 37
AD3d 534, 536 [2007]; Markopoulos v Markopoulos, 274 AD2d 457, 459
[2000]). Rivera, J.P., Balkin, Cohen and Barros, JJ., concur.