Karounos v. Karounos

206 A.D.2d 407, 614 N.Y.S.2d 535, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7317
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 11, 1994
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 206 A.D.2d 407 (Karounos v. Karounos) 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
Karounos v. Karounos, 206 A.D.2d 407, 614 N.Y.S.2d 535, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7317 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the husband appeals, as limited by his brief, from stated portions of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Hyman, J.H.O.), entered August 3, 1992, which, inter alia, (1) in effect, awarded the wife a 50% interest in the appreciation of the value of the parties’ first house, (2) awarded the wife $150 per week as maintenance for a period of three years, (3) awarded the wife an unlimited right of exclusive occupancy of her portion of the former marital residence, (4) directed the husband to pay all of the carrying charges on the former marital residence, (5) directed the husband to pay for the educational tuition and expenses of the infant child, Michael Karounos, at the New York Military Academy or another educational institution, and (6) awarded the wife the sum of $9,495.50 in counsel fees.

Ordered that the judgment is modified, by (1) deleting that portion of the fifth decretal paragraph thereof directing the husband to pay the educational tuition and expenses of the infant child, Michael Karounos, at the New York Military [408]*408Academy or another educational institution, (2) deleting the seventh decretal paragraph thereof and substituting therefor the following: "The husband shall pay the following carrying charges on the residence until the youngest son completes college (if he attends college) or is emancipated, or until the husband moves out of the former marital residence, whichever occurs later: $2,224 for real estate taxes, $850 for water and sewer charges, $520 for insurance, $2,500 for gas, heat and electricity, and $290 for normal repairs, for a total of $6,384 annually”, (3) deleting that portion of the tenth decretal paragraph which awarded the wife "1/2 of the net principal and interest remaining on deposit”, and substituting therefor a provision awarding the wife "15% of the net principal and interest remaining on deposit”, and (4) adding to the end of the ninth decretal paragraph the following: "however, when and if the former marital residence is sold, the net proceeds therefrom are to be divided between the parties, fifty (50%) percent to the wife, and fifty (50%) per cent to the husband, after a credit in favor of the defendant husband in the sum of $15,300 is deducted from the net proceeds”; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

The parties to this action were married on November 9, 1969, and have three children. The wife commenced this action for divorce in August 1988 on the basis of cruel and inhuman treatment. The husband counterclaimed for a divorce on the same ground.

During the trial, the parties entered into a stipulation pursuant to which the wife would have custody of the couple’s children, the husband would have visitation rights, and the wife would be granted the divorce.

In its judgment, the court ordered the husband to pay the wife $150 per week for maintenance for three years and to maintain the wife’s medical insurance. The court directed the husband to pay the educational tuition and expenses of the infant son, Michael, at the New York Military Academy and if Michael discontinued his education there and resided with the wife, directed the husband to pay the wife $50 per week for Michael’s support until Michael is 21 years old or sooner emancipated. The court directed that the wife have exclusive occupancy and use of the first floor of the marital residence and the husband have exclusive occupancy and use of his apartment located on the second floor of the marital residence. The court directed that the husband continue to receive the sum of $1,084 per month on account of a purchase money [409]*409mortgage the husband received from the sale of his first house, at 49-04 Skillman Avenue, that he deposit these funds into his Manufacturers Hanover Trust Money Management account, from which he shall pay the carrying charges on the marital residence, and the balance of these funds shall then be divided equally between the wife and the husband. The court directed, with reference to the marital property, that the parties were equal owners of the marital residence, a garage, and the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Money Management account (balance of $80,941.92), and that the wife was to receive 40% of the husband’s Greenpoint Savings Bank account (balance of $72,068.87). The court also awarded the wife attorney’s fees in the sum of $9,495.50.

Considering all of the facts in this case, the trial court’s award to the wife of 50% of most of the marital assets and 40% of the Greenpoint Savings Bank account did not constitute an improvident exercise of discretion. The parties were married for 19 years. At the beginning of the marriage, the wife worked as a hairdresser in the husband’s beauty shop. The wife then gave up her career as a hairdresser to raise the parties’ three sons and to provide homemaker services. In reaching its determination, the trial court obviously considered the husband’s poor health, as noted in the court’s memorandum decision. Accordingly, we find no reason to disturb this determination (see, Bisca v Bisca, 108 AD2d 773, 774-775).

The Supreme Court properly concluded that the wife was entitled to maintenance of $150 per week for three years. The wife has been a mother and homemaker for most of the parties’ 19-year marriage. Accordingly, the maintenance is proper to permit the wife time to become self-supporting (see, Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [6] [a] [4]).

The judgment allocated to the wife 50% of the appreciation of the value of the house located at 49-04 Skillman Avenue. On appeal, the husband contends that this house was his separate property and therefore, the wife is not entitled to share in the appreciation of the value of this house. The husband purchased this house for $26,000 in 1963, 6 years before the marriage. Upon their marriage, the wife moved into this house. In the house, the husband had a beauty shop, where the wife worked as a hairdresser for the first year of the marriage, contributing her earnings to the household. The parties lived in the house for at least three years before they moved to the most recent marital residence. In 1983, the husband sold the house for $120,000, and gave an $81,000 purchase money mortgage to the buyer. The husband used [410]*410$18,000 from these proceeds to satisfy the outstanding balance on the mortgage he had on the marital residence. The husband testified that he used part of the proceeds to renovate the bathroom in the most recent marital residence and placed the remaining proceeds in his Manufacturers Hanover Trust account.

It is now well settled that "where separate property of one spouse has appreciated during the marriage and before execution of a separation agreement or commencement of a matrimonial proceeding and where such appreciation was 'due in part’ to the contributions or efforts of the nontitled spouse as parent and homemaker, the amount of that appreciation should be added to the sum of marital property for equitable distribution” (Price v Price, 69 NY2d 8, 17; see also, Feldman v Feldman, 194 AD2d 207, 217). At bar, the record sufficiently demonstrates that the wife’s monetary and nonmonetary contributions to the marriage and household justified awarding her a portion of the appreciation value (see, Robinson v Robinson, 166 AD2d 428, 429-430).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
206 A.D.2d 407, 614 N.Y.S.2d 535, 1994 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7317, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/karounos-v-karounos-nyappdiv-1994.