BRYAN ALINTOFF VS. RACHEL B. ALINTOFF (FM-13-545-12, MONMOUTH COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)

New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division·Decided May 18, 2017·No. A-0785-14T1·Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court."

Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R.1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-0785-14T1

BRYAN ALINTOFF, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. RACHEL B. ALINTOFF,

Defendant-Appellant.

Argued May 11, 2016 – Decided May 18, 2017 Before Judges Ostrer, Haas and Manahan.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Family Part, Monmouth County, Docket No. FM-13-545-12.

Caryl Wolfson Leightman argued the cause for appellant (Howard W. Bailey and Ms. Leightman, attorneys; Mr. Bailey and Ms. Leightman, on the briefs).

Clara S. Licata argued the cause for respondent.

The opinion of the court was delivered by OSTRER, J.A.D.

In this divorce case, defendant Rachel B. Alintoff appeals from the trial court's final child custody order, pursuant to Rule

5:8-6, awarding plaintiff Bryan Alintoff primary residential custody of the parties' son, Matt.1 The child was born in 2009, two years after the parties married, and two years before plaintiff filed for divorce. Defendant does not challenge the award of joint legal custody to both parents. The custody trial, which spanned twenty-eight days over several months, proceeded while resolution of equitable distribution and permanent alimony was stayed due to defendant's September 2012 bankruptcy filing. However, defendant appeals from the trial court's order terminating plaintiff's obligation to pay unallocated pendente lite support to defendant, and requiring defendant to pay child support to plaintiff. She contends the court erred in its imputation of income to her, and violated the bankruptcy stay by ordering her to pay child support. Defendant also appeals from the trial court's order denying defendant's recusal motion. Having considered defendant's arguments in light of the record and applicable legal principles, we affirm, substantially for the reasons set forth in Judge Linda Grasso Jones's comprehensive written decisions.

1 We utilize a pseudonym to protect the child's privacy.

I.

The trial court reviewed the facts in detail. It suffices here to highlight the following. In September 2011, after a period of marital difficulties, defendant vacated the marital home in New Jersey with two-year-old Matt, many of his belongings, passport, and other personal documents. She gave no advance notice to plaintiff. She relocated to her parents' home in Brooklyn, and never returned. Defendant claimed she feared for Matt's safety if left with plaintiff since he possessed a gun.2 However, the court concluded, upon review of the evidence, that she withheld the child to retaliate against plaintiff, because she believed plaintiff was having an affair and hiding assets from her with his business partner.

Soon thereafter, plaintiff filed his divorce complaint and an order to show cause to compel defendant to return Matt. On September 28, 2011, the parties entered into a consent order that provided the parties shared "joint legal and . . . physical custody," and granted plaintiff parenting time from Friday morning

2 Plaintiff used the gun recreationally at a shooting range and did not keep ammunition at home.

to Monday morning.3 At the time, plaintiff worked away from home, in finance, but returned home around 3:00 p.m., and defendant was a stay-at-home caregiver. Eventually, however, plaintiff shifted to working primarily from home; defendant moved out of her parents' home and into her own apartment in Brooklyn, and began working part-time.

In the months that followed Matt's removal and the commencement of divorce proceedings, defendant took various steps that were at odds with shared decision-making involving Matt. In October 2011, she obtained an order of protection from a New York court, barring plaintiff from interfering with defendant's care and custody of Matt, but that court soon thereafter dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction.4 Defendant also threatened litigation against the operator of a gymnastics class that plaintiff proposed to send Matt to on Saturdays, when he had

3 The order required plaintiff to store the handgun at the shooting range. However, after he learned he could not do so, he sold the gun. 4 The New York court dismissed the action on October 11, 2011. After defendant denied plaintiff his parenting time for the weekend beginning on October 7, plaintiff obtained an emergent order from one of Judge Grasso Jones's predecessors, which required defendant to return Matt to New Jersey, granted plaintiff temporary physical and legal custody, and granted defendant supervised parenting time. We later vacated that order upon defendant's emergent appeal and subjected the parties to the September 2011 consent order.

parenting time. The parties exchanged numerous texts that the trial court found demonstrated defendant's unwillingness to meet plaintiff directly to discuss Matt's care. Defendant registered multiple complaints about plaintiff with the Division of Youth and Family Services, which ultimately found no reason for concern. She also alleged, but failed to prove, plaintiff had an alcohol problem.5 In December 2011, the court granted in part defendant's motion for pendente lite support, ordering plaintiff to cover defendant's schedule B automobile expenses, and pay $1157 in unallocated support to defendant.6 In the same order, the court granted plaintiff's motion to enjoin either party from enrolling Matt in a school or activity without the other's written consent.

Questions arose regarding Matt's development and whether certain interventions were warranted. Defendant obtained the evaluation of a speech therapist without plaintiff's participation. With plaintiff's consent (conveyed by his attorney), the therapist then treated Matt for six months. In

5 In particular, she alleged plaintiff had an emergent, alcoholrelated hospital admission in New York. Plaintiff retained an expert who confirmed that none of the over thirty hospitals in New York had any records of the alleged admission. 6 The court designated the entire amount as non-deductible to plaintiff and non-taxable to defendant.

early 2013, defendant unilaterally obtained evaluations of Matt from a New York City Board of Education contractor, OMNI Childhood Center of Brooklyn. Without consulting with plaintiff or notifying the court, defendant enrolled Matt in a Brooklyn pre-school geared for children with special needs, which provided occupational, physical and speech therapy. After learning of his enrollment from Matt, plaintiff consented to his son's continued participation rather than disrupt it. In the summer of 2013, defendant also enrolled Matt in a summer school without consulting plaintiff.

Plaintiff invited defendant to attend an evaluation of Matt by a New Jersey licensed occupational therapist plaintiff selected, Ursula Shah. Defendant appeared at the therapist's office as scheduled, but instead of participating, she objected to the session proceeding. Plaintiff had to obtain a court order to enable the evaluation to proceed.

Other evaluations were performed during the course of the litigation, some specifically for the purpose of trial. The parties jointly retained Patricia Baszczuk, Ph.D., who completed a 162-page custody evaluation in January 2013, based on a more than year-long process that included numerous interviews of the parties; observations of each party with Matt; psychological testing; questionnaires of numerous friends and family members;

and review of Matt's records, communications between the parties, and videotapes of their interactions when transferring Matt. The trial court found Dr. Baszczuk's report and testimony credible and helpful.

After evaluating the statutory factors, N.J.S.A. 9:2-4, Dr.

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