Brancoveanu v. Brancoveanu

145 A.D.2d 395
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedDecember 29, 1988
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 145 A.D.2d 395 (Brancoveanu v. Brancoveanu) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brancoveanu v. Brancoveanu, 145 A.D.2d 395 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

— In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the plaintiff husband appeals (1), as limited by his brief, from so much of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Corrado, J.), dated April 30, 1987, as, inter alia, (a) granted a divorce in favor of the defendant wife and dismissed his complaint for a divorce, (b) awarded custody of the two infant children of the marriage to the wife and directed visitation, (c) awarded the wife child support in the sum of $200 per week, (d) awarded exclusive occupancy of the marital residence to the wife and ordered that upon the sale of the property the net proceeds be divided 60% to the wife and 40% to him, (e) ordered that he pay all medical and health insurance for the benefit of the infant children, (f) granted the wife leave to enter a money judgment against him in the sum of $18,827.65, (g) granted the wife’s attorney leave to enter a money judgment against him in the amount of $500, (h) denied his application for maintenance and equitable distribution of the wife’s dental practice and certain real property, and (i) denied his application for custody of the infant children and child support; (2), as limited by his brief, from so much of an order of the same court, dated May 13, 1987, as denied that branch of his motion which was for a downward modification of child support; (3) from an order of the same court, dated June 22, 1987, which denied his motion to set aside the memorandum decision of the court dated April 10, 1987, upon which the April 30, 1987, judgment was based and to require the wife to return to him items of personalty taken from the marital residence; (4), from an order of the same court, dated August 27, 1987, which denied his motion to hold the wife in contempt for willfully violating the visitation order and for a [396]*396suspension of the child support payments; (5), from so much of an order of the same court also dated August 27, 1987, as failed to grant certain increased child visitation and a downward modification of his child support obligation; (6), from stated portions of an order of the same court, dated August 31, 1987, which, inter alla, (a) denied those branches of his motion which were to punish the wife for contempt, for full custody of the two infant children, for the termination of child support and cancellation of arrears of child support, and to require the wife to resume using her maiden name, and (b) granted that branch of the wife’s cross motion which was to compel him to produce life insurance policies for the children as required by the judgment of April 30, 1987; (7) from an order of the same court dated September 16, 1987, which granted counsel fees to the wife in the amount of $4,000 and (8) from an order of the same court dated September 16, 1987, which granted those branches of the wife’s cross motion which were for leave to enter a money judgment in the amount of $1,400 representing arrears of child support and $500 in counsel fees.

Ordered that the judgment dated April 30, 1987, is modified by deleting the provision thereof granting the defendant leave to enter a money judgment against the plaintiff in the sum of $18,827.65; as so modified the judgment dated April 30, 1987, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it further,

Ordered that the order dated May 13, 1987, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further,

Ordered that so much of the appeal from the order dated June 22, 1987, as denied that branch of the plaintiff’s motion which was to set aside a memorandum decision dated April 10, 1987, is dismissed, and the order dated June 22, 1987, is otherwise affirmed; and it is further,

Ordered that the order dated August 27, 1987, which, inter alia, denied the plaintiff’s motion to hold the defendant in contempt is affirmed; and it is further,

Ordered the order dated August 27, 1987, which, inter alla, failed to grant certain increased child visitation, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further,

Ordered that the order dated August 31, 1987, is affirmed insofar as appealed from; and it is further,

Ordered that the orders dated September 16, 1987, are affirmed; and it is further,

Ordered that the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for a hearing as to the amount of arrears [397]*397owed by the plaintiff under the order dated January 10, 1985; and it is further,

Ordered that the defendant is awarded one bill of costs.

The parties, both immigrants from Romania, were married on August 5, 1976. There are two infant children of the marriage. The husband is a practicing attorney who had been an attorney in Romania and who was admitted to the New York Bar in 1978. The wife had been a practicing dentist in Romania for 10 years before emigrating in 1976. She married the husband within days of her arrival in this country. The wife became certified to practice dentistry here in November 1978 and immediately opened her own practice in December of that year. After the marriage, the parties bought a two-family home in Rego Park, Queens. The wife initiated an action for divorce in 1982 but the action was discontinued by stipulation dated July 27, 1983. The instant action was commenced in 1984 by the husband. The wife asserted a counterclaim for a divorce on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment.

With respect to the husband’s initial argument that the wife should not have been granted a divorce on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment, we note that the evidence adduced at the trial amply supported the trial court’s determination. Competent evidence established that the husband attempted to engage a person to murder the wife and dispose of the body; that he had continually threatened her and had struck her causing her to seek emergency medical treatment; that he called her a “whore” and a “lesbian” in the presence of her children and others; that he made continual threats over the years that he would kill her; and that he caused her to be falsely incarcerated for a period of almost five hours. These facts amply support the grant of the divorce to the wife (see, Bulger v Bulger, 88 AD2d 895).

The husband, on the other hand, was not entitled to a divorce on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment as he failed to allege, much less prove, that the wife was guilty of conduct which would make it unsafe or improper for him to continue to cohabit with her (see, Domestic Relations Law § 170 [1]).

Turning to the issue of equitable distribution, we find no impropriety in the court’s award. The three items of marital property, the husband’s law practice, the wife’s dental practice and the marital residence were all considered by the court. As to the building known as 817 Onderdonk Avenue where the [398]*398wife maintained her office, the husband failed to offer any legally competent evidence that the wife and not her sister was the owner and that this property should have been considered marital property (see, Gredel v Gredel, 128 AD2d 834, Iv dismissed 70 NY2d 693).

In light of the conflicting testimony as to which spouse had made the down payment when the marital residence was purchased in 1979, we accept the trial court’s finding that the funds were realized from the income derived through the wife’s dental practice. The husband’s claim that he had received approximately $65,000 from his mother upon the sale of the family jewelry which she brought from Romania was not believed by the trial court and we find no basis to disturb that determination.

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Bluebook (online)
145 A.D.2d 395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brancoveanu-v-brancoveanu-nyappdiv-1988.