Sopko v. Slackman

808 A.2d 838, 174 N.J. 381, 2002 N.J. LEXIS 1467
New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division·Decided October 23, 2002·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

PRESSLER, P.J.A.D.

(temporarily assigned).

This palimony case brought by plaintiff Mary Sopko against defendant the Estate of Arthur Roeeamonte is before us by reason of a dissent in the Appellate Division. R. 2:2-l(a)(2). The majority concluded as a matter of fact that a fair reading of the record in the trial court compelled the finding that decedent Roeeamonte had made an enforceable oral promise of support for life to plaintiff Mary Sopko, his cohabitant for twenty-five years and with whom he had lived as husband and wife during that entire period and until his death in 1995. The majority also concluded as a matter of law that the promise was enforceable against his estate. The dissent was of the view that the trial court had failed to make a finding of that promise and, more significantly, that even if the promise had been made, it would not be enforceable against the estate. We agree with the majority’s determination of both issues and accordingly affirm.

The undisputed facts and the facts as expressly found by the trial court are related in detail in Judge Kestin’s majority opinion, 346 N.J.Super. 107, 787 A.2d 198 (App.Div.2001) (Roccamonte II), and in his prior opinion, 324 N.J.Super. 357, 735 A.2d 614 (App.Div.1999) (Roccamonte I), by which the Appellate Division reversed a summary judgment in favor of the estate dismissing plaintiffs complaint for support for life and remanded to the Chancery Division, Probate Part. We relate them here only to the extent necessary to explain our decision.

Plaintiff Mary Sopko was born in 1925. In 1941 she married Nicholas Sopko, who was then in the army and, following his war assignment, she returned alone to Bloomfield, New Jersey, obtaining employment as a model in New York City’s garment center. When her husband returned from army service, they lived togeth[386] er in New Jersey, she continued to work, and in 1952, she gave birth to their daughter, Sandra. In the 1950’s she met Arthur Roccamonte, the owner of a trucking business servicing the garment industry. He was also then married and had two children. Roccamonte pursued plaintiff, and they embarked on an affair that endured for the rest of his life. Plaintiff’s husband left her, and she and Roccamonte lived together intermittently until the mid-1960s when she left New Jersey and went to California for the purpose of ending her relationship with Roccamonte, who had refused her requests that he divorce his wife and marry her. Roccamonte, however, wanted her to return, telephoned her repeatedly, and promised that if she came back to him, he would divorce his wife and, so plaintiff asserts, he would provide for her financially for the rest of her life. Relying on his promises, she returned to New Jersey, divorced her husband, and took up residency in Glen Ridge.

In 1970 Roccamonte leased an apartment in an upscale building in Glen Ridge where he and plaintiff lived together as husband and wife. Plaintiffs daughter lived with them. In 1973 the building was converted to cooperative ownership, Roccamonte purchased an interest which he titled in plaintiffs name, and they lived together in that apartment as husband and wife until his death. He never divorced his wife, explaining to plaintiff that a divorce would place his business in, jeopardy. He continued throughout his life to support his wife and children generously. Although Roccamonte was extremely private respecting his business affairs, indeed secretive, there is no doubt that he was a man of considerable wealth and that the lifestyle he afforded plaintiff and the financial support he provided her was consistent with his affluence. He paid for substantial improvements to the apartment, gave her cash of $600 a week, and bought her clothes and jewelry. They took frequent vacations and regularly dined at expensive restaurants. Roccamonte also supported plaintiffs daughter, paying her college tuition and medical expenses. Plaintiff continued to work in the garment industry until 1990, for a time as a model and later as a salesperson, earning a take-home [387] pay, she testified, averaging about $250 weekly. During their years together, plaintiff committed herself to her relationship with Roccamonte, conducting herself in private and in public as a loyal and devoted wife.

As time passed and she grew older, plaintiff became increasingly concerned about her own financial future in the event that she survived Roccamonte. She expressed these concerns to him, and he repeatedly assured her, she testified, that she had no cause for worry as he would see to it that she was provided for during her life. He repeated that promise in the presence of others, including a friend of plaintiff, who so testified, and her brother, with whom the couple frequently visited, who also so testified. Roccamonte, however, died intestate. On his death, plaintiff received the proceeds of an insurance policy on his life in the amount of $18,000 and of a certificate of deposit in her name in the amount of $10,000. She also had title to the apartment, the maintenance cost of which was then approximately $950 per month, and her jewelry. She had, moreover, received two weekly payments of $1,000 immediately after Roeeamonte’s death from his son, who was managing the trucking business. She testified to her belief that these payments represented the periodic support Roccamonte had intended her to receive from the business after his death but the payments were characterized by Roccamonte’s son as merely the proceeds of his father’s last paycheck.

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Sopko v. Slackman, 808 A.2d 838, 174 N.J. 381, 2002 N.J. LEXIS 1467 (N.J. Ct. App. 2002).

808 A.2d 838 (Sopko v. Slackman) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

In Re Estate of Roccamonte
808 A.2d 838 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2002)