Rosenfeld v. Rosenfeld

14 Misc. 2d 281, 178 N.Y.S.2d 181, 1958 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2866
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 1, 1958
StatusPublished

This text of 14 Misc. 2d 281 (Rosenfeld v. Rosenfeld) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rosenfeld v. Rosenfeld, 14 Misc. 2d 281, 178 N.Y.S.2d 181, 1958 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2866 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1958).

Opinion

Louis L. Friedman, J.

There are two applications before the court. One is by the plaintiff, former wife of the defendant, for an order of sequestration, appointing a receiver to take possession of certain properties allegedly owned by the defendant, and for other and further relief. The purpose of this motion is to insure payment to plaintiff of the claimed sum of $4,810, alleged to be arrears in alimony owing by defendant from February 4, 1957 to May 5, 1958. The second motion is by defendant for an order pursuant to section 1172-e of the Civil Practice Act, modifying a final judgment of divorce so as to reduce the amount provided therein to be paid. Defendant asks for further relief, directing that the plaintiff vacate and surrender possession of the one-family house which she now occupies.

The facts are rather simple. On October 17, 1955, an interlocutory judgment of divorce was entered in favor of plaintiff against defendant, and by its terms, said divorce became final on January 18,1956. In addition to severing the marriage relationship between the parties, the decree awarded custody of the two infants, issue of the marriage, to the plaintiff and directed defendant to pay for their support as well as the support of the wife, the sum of $95 per week. At that time, the son of the parties was approximately 15 years of age and the daughter was about 10% years old. The decree further contained language which in effect stated that so long as defendant owned premises 1611 East 33rd Street, in Brooklyn, and paid all the maintenance charges thereupon, including interest and principal on mortgages, all taxes and assessments, and all other liens on the premises, and continued to keep the premises in repair and paid the heating charges therefor, and so long as plaintiff and her children continued to occupy the said property, that defendant would-be entitled to deduct from said weekly alimony of $95, the sum of $21 per week. In effect, what said latter provision directed was, that if plaintiff and her children occupied the premises, and defendant continued to pay for the mainte[284]*284nance of the same, including all charges usually paid by an owner of property, that defendant should be entitled to deduct from the weekly alimony, a sum which computed on the basis of 4% weeks to a month, amounted to $91 monthly, so that what defendant was getting was rent in that amount.

Defendant denies that he is indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $4,810, as alleged by her, although he concedes the nonpayment of alimony between the dates set forth in plaintiff’s papers. He attributes his failure to pay to the fact that in the early part of 1957 he learned for the first time that on May 17,1956, plaintiff had remarried and had brought her new husband into defendant’s premises to live with her and her two children. He claims that he should have been notified of this marriage so that he would have been given a credit in the amount of alimony to be paid by him, under the provisions of the decree of divorce which stated that payments of alimony were to be made “ during the natural life of the .said plaintiff or until she remarries ”. He alleges further that during the Summer of 1956, the infant son, then aged approximately 16 years, took employment with some insurance company, and that by reason thereof, defendant was entitled to a further credit because he would have been entitled ipso facto to a further reduction in alimony since he was not obliged to further support this boy who was then gainfully employed. He alleges further that the boy has continued to be employed and is actually now employed by him, and under such circumstances he should not be obligated to pay for the support of the said child.

On the argument of the motion, plaintiff’s attorney conceded that defendant is entitled to relief to the extent that he may receive credit for such portion of the $95 weekly alimony as the court finds may be allocated to the support of plaintiff herself, and that such reduction may be retroactive to May 17, 1956. Plaintiff’s counsel further conceded that so long as the son remains employed, defendant is. no longer obligated to provide for his support; but counsel for the respective parties disagreed as to when the reduction by reason thereof should take place. Defendant contends that it should take place as of July, 1956 when the young man first took employment, while plaintiff contends that it became effective from the date when defendant applied for such reduction.

The case of Weitz v. Weitz (1 A D 2d 1025) seems to be determinative of this question. In that case, a son of the parties entered military service in June of 1954 even though he did not attain his majority until 11 months later. Upon his attaining majority, the father moved to modify the judgment entered in [285]*285that ease so as to eliminate the provisions for the son’s support, and asked the court to make such reduction retroactive to the date when the boy entered the military service. Special Term granted the father’s application and made such reduction retroactive to the 1954 date. However, the Appellate Division modified, and directed that the date to be used as the retroactive date was the one on which the application for such reduction was made, stating that the Special Term was without power to grant a reduction retroactive to the date when the infant became employed (citing Averett v. Averett, 110 Misc. 584, affd. 191 App. Div. 948; Haas v. Haas, 271 App. Div. 107; Griffin v. Griffin, 219 App. Div. 370; Rosenfield v. Rosenfield, 285 App. Div. 817; Harris v. Harris, 259 N. Y. 334).

Under the holding in the Weits case, the court finds that any reduction in the amount of alimony to be paid by the defendant for the support of the son must be granted only as of July 22, 1958, when the motion for such reduction was first made returnable in this court, and it will be so directed.

The court has apportioned the alimony originally provided for the wife and the two children as follows: $37 for the wife, and $29 for each of the two children, making the total of $95. Of this sum, $7 per week should be apportioned to each of them for occupancy of the premises (total $21 per week, provided for in the decree of divorce). Based upon such figures, the provision of the decree which stated that alimony shall continue in the amount therein provided until the wife remarried, indicates that the alimony should be and the court hereby directs that it be reduced as of May 17, 1956 to the sum of $95 less $37, or a net figure of $58 per week. From that figure must be deducted the sum of $14 per week for the occupancy of the premises by the two children ($7 having already been deducted in the computation of the wife’s share of $37, and the total amount of which makes up the $21 provided for in the decree). This makes a net which was due from the defendant as of May 17, 1956, in the sum of $44 per week. He is therefore indebted to the plaintiff on this motion for the sum of $44 per week from February 4, 1957 (when he ceased making payments) to May 5, 1958, a period of 65 weeks, or a total sum of $2,860. Added to that is alimony at the rate of $44 per week for the support of the two children from May 12, 1958 to July 22, 1958, when this motion was made. This is a period of 11 additional weeks, or an additional amount of $484. While this latter sum does not fall within the period specified in the moving papers, the court feels that under the prayer for other and further relief, this amount should also be computed herein so that the parties may be

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Related

Harris v. Harris
182 N.E. 7 (New York Court of Appeals, 1932)
Averett v. Averett
191 A.D. 948 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1920)
Griffin v. Griffin
219 A.D. 370 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1927)
Rosenfield v. Rosenfield
285 A.D. 817 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1955)
Averett v. Averett
110 Misc. 584 (New York Supreme Court, 1920)

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Bluebook (online)
14 Misc. 2d 281, 178 N.Y.S.2d 181, 1958 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 2866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rosenfeld-v-rosenfeld-nysupct-1958.