Toth v. Toth, No. Fa95 032 64 03 S (Oct. 21, 1997)

1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 10712
CourtConnecticut Superior Court
DecidedOctober 21, 1997
DocketNo. FA95 032 64 03 S
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 10712 (Toth v. Toth, No. Fa95 032 64 03 S (Oct. 21, 1997)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Toth v. Toth, No. Fa95 032 64 03 S (Oct. 21, 1997), 1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 10712 (Colo. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This case is unpublished as indicated by the issuing court.]MEMORANDUM OF DECISION This is a suit for dissolution of marriage brought by the plaintiff wife against the defendant husband. The parties married on October 6, 1978 in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is the second marriage for each and each of the parties had a child of her or his first marriage. In the plaintiff's case, she had a daughter, Nicole, who is now twenty-seven years of age and who was adopted by the defendant. The defendant has a son, Michael, who is now twenty-five years of age.

There are two children issue of the parties, Alexis, born February 25, 1980, and Aaron, born March 27, 1981, thus 17 and 16 years of age. Alexis is now a junior at Fairfield High School and Aaron a sophomore at Fairfield Prep.

The parties stipulated that the exhibits introduced at the pendente lite hearing shall be exhibits in this proceeding. Even with agreement on the introduction of exhibits, the dissolution hearing lasted eighteen days. There have been two hundred and CT Page 10713 seventy-seven exhibits (one hundred thirty-two offered by the plaintiff and one hundred fifty-five offered by the defendant). The parties have left no stone unturned in their presentation.

Trial of this matter commenced on June 3, 1997 and concluded on August 20, although interrupted by other trials during that period of time. In the fall of 1996, hearings on pendente lite motions consumed twelve days of trial time so that this case has consumed thirty days of trial time in all. The case has become a "cause celeb" driven in large measure by the pro se defendant.

The parties have fought bitterly during these proceedings. In excess of fifty motions have been filed to date and the parties have produced a volume of financial information. Some of this has been necessary because of the plaintiff's four wholly owned Subchapter S corporations. In addition, the plaintiff sustained a fire loss in her home on January 9, 1997, resulting in a recovery of more than one million ($1,000,000) dollars in insurance proceeds for which the defendant sought an accounting. The plaintiff received the limit of her fire policy and sustained an additional $200,000 loss for which there was no recovery.

This action was commenced in September, 1995. The plaintiff and the two minor children presently reside at 19 Gorham Avenue in Westport, Connecticut. This is a new residence for them, the former family home at 160 Farmstead Hill Road in Fairfield having been substantially damaged by the fire.

The defendant resides in an apartment owned by the plaintiff at 70 Anderson Lane in Southport. It ought to be noted that the defendant's residency commenced pursuant to a lease executed by himself to himself without authorization by the plaintiff whose corporation is the sole owner of the property and then subsequently by order of the undersigned in its Memorandum of Decision dated October 28, 1996.

The plaintiff, until February 12, 1996, was employed as Administrator and President of Southport Manor Convalescent Home, owned by her father, Albert A. Garofalo, a Fairfield attorney. She was terminated by her father for failing to advance funds from Southport Manor as he had requested. She had been so employed for twenty-four years with an annual salary ranging from $155,000 to $250,000. While the defendant has claimed that the termination was contrived to avoid paying him alimony, the undersigned has previously found to the contrary and has found CT Page 10714 that there is a definite rift between father and daughter. Mr. Garofalo testified in this proceeding and that rift unfortunately continues.

Since two of the plaintiff's corporations are virtually dependent upon Southport Manor for their business and since this business has been almost totally terminated, the plaintiff has experienced loss of business and a loss of income besides just the absence of her salary. These two corporations, because of the loss of business, have also lost value resulting in a diminution in the plaintiff's net worth. The defendant has been unable to recognize the plaintiff's desperate cash flow position. She has been forced to borrow from her corporations and to use the funds recovered for the fire loss for necessary living expenses. She has had to juggle borrowings against her credit cards using access checks on various accounts to take advantage of the lowest introductory interest rates.

The health of both parties is fine. Plaintiff is 49 years of age and the defendant is 48 years of age. The plaintiff is seeking employment as an administrator of a health care facility both in this country and abroad. The defendant had also been employed at Southport Manor until his termination in January, 1996. He was employed by Southport Manor in 1980 as the Director of Data Processing and remained in that position until his termination in January, 1996. At the time of the parties' marriage, he was employed at Cheeseborough Ponds as a Project Leader and Systems Analyst. (See plaintiff's exhibit GG.) On January 13, 1997, the defendant became again employed as a consultant on data processing by Keane Associates of Darien, Connecticut. His gross annual salary is $55,000. He reports a net wage of $800.00 weekly. The plaintiff reports weekly income of $322.00.

While custody of the minor children was an issue prior to the pendente lite hearing, the recommendations of the Family Relations counselors at the time of mediation on October 23rd, 1996, was as follows:

"Given the children's ages and the presence of counsel for them, a referral to the Family Services unit for custody evaluation does not appear warranted. The children have both voiced their preference to live with their mother." CT Page 10715

As noted at the outset of this memorandum, the children are 17 1/2 and 16 1/2 and have both expressed their preference to live with their mother. They have been represented by counsel and their counsel has filed a report dated November 7, 1996, which bears docket entry number 159.00. In that report, counsel states as follows:

"Alexis Toth and Aaron Toth are capable of expressing an intelligent preference with respect to custody and visitation and both children have expressed a preference to remain in the physical custody of the plaintiff-mother. The boys appear relaxed and comfortable in their father's company and have indicated to me their desire to spend time with their father on a flexible, liberal schedule. They told me that the visitation arrangement they would prefer is one whereby they feel free to call their father to make their own arrangements to spend time with him."

Indeed, they have been spending time with their father throughout these proceedings as they chose. Neither of the children have felt constrained by their mother from spending time with their father. Counsel for the children reported the children's position on the first day of trial and was excused from further participation in these proceedings pursuant to §46b-54 (c) of the General Statutes. See Newman v. Newman,35 Conn. App. 449, 451 (1995).

Section 46b-56 (b) of the General Statutes provides, in part, as follows:

"In making or modifying any order with respect to custody or visitation, the court shall (1) be guided by the best interests of the child, giving consideration to the wishes of the child if the child is of sufficient age and capable of forming an intelligent preference,. . . ."

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Bluebook (online)
1997 Conn. Super. Ct. 10712, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/toth-v-toth-no-fa95-032-64-03-s-oct-21-1997-connsuperct-1997.