Nichols v. Nichols

19 A.D.3d 775, 797 N.Y.S.2d 139, 2005 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6193
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJune 9, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 19 A.D.3d 775 (Nichols v. Nichols) 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
Nichols v. Nichols, 19 A.D.3d 775, 797 N.Y.S.2d 139, 2005 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6193 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

Spain, J.

Appeals (1) from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Bradley, J.), entered March 4, 2004 in Ulster County, inter alia, granting plaintiff a divorce and ordering equitable distribution of the parties’ marital property, upon a decision of the court, and (2) from an order of said court, entered April 8, 2004 in Ulster County, which denied defendant’s motion to set aside certain portions of the court’s decision.

The parties were married in 1973 and have three children. The two oldest children were emancipated by the time of trial. Following a bench trial, Supreme Court granted plaintiff a divorce on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment, distributed the marital property, and directed defendant to pay maintenance and child support. Defendant then, pursuant to CPLR 4404 (b), unsuccessfully sought an order setting aside certain portions of the decision. Defendant now appeals from both the judgment and the subsequent order denying his motion.

Initially, defendant contends that the evidence presented was insufficient to establish cruel and inhuman treatment. An action for divorce may be maintained on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment when defendant’s conduct “so endangers the physical or mental well being of the plaintiff as [to render] it unsafe or improper for the plaintiff to cohabit with the defen[777]*777dant” (Domestic Relations Law § 170 [1]). In marriages of long duration, a higher degree of proof is required to establish “serious or substantial misconduct” (Pfoltzer v Morris-Pfoltzer, 9 AD3d 615, 616 [2004]).

In our view, Supreme Court’s determination that defendant’s conduct rose to that level was sufficiently supported in the record and reflected a provident exercise of the court’s broad discretion (see id. at 616-617; Collins v Collins, 284 AD2d 743, 745 [2001] ; Gray v Gray, 245 AD2d 584, 585 [1997]). Plaintiff testified to 30 years of cruel, authoritarian and demeaning treatment by defendant, whose behavior during the last five years of their marriage caused plaintiff to seek treatment for serious clinical depression (see Conrad v Conrad, 16 AD3d 794, 795 [2005]). Notwithstanding defendant’s denials, Supreme Court’s factual determinations and assessments of witness credibility are entitled to deference (see Clarkson v Clarkson, 103 AD2d 964, 964-965 [1984]).

Turning to the issue of maintenance, we find that although Supreme Court failed to articulate the statutory factors which shaped its award (see Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [6] [a] [1]-[11]; [b]), the record before us is sufficient to conduct our own review (see Wojewodzic v Wojewodzic, 300 AD2d 985, 986 [2002] ). Here, defendant earns $96,910 annually,

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Bluebook (online)
19 A.D.3d 775, 797 N.Y.S.2d 139, 2005 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 6193, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nichols-v-nichols-nyappdiv-2005.