Anglin v. Anglin

• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: Before WEISS; YESAWICH; WEISS
• Citation: Anglin v. Anglin, 538 N.Y.S.2d 668, 148 A.D.2d 833 (N.Y. App. Div. 1989)
• Decision Date: 09 March 1989
• Parties: Rachel ANGLIN, Respondent, v. Harold ANGLIN, Appellant.

Page 668

538 N.Y.S.2d 668

148 A.D.2d 833

Rachel ANGLIN, Respondent, v. Harold ANGLIN, Appellant.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Department.

March 9, 1989.

Zubres, D'Agostino & Hoblock (David Siegal, Albany, of counsel), for appellant.

Bohl, Clayton, Komar & Della Rocca (John Dorfman, Albany, of counsel), for respondent.

Before WEISS, J.P., and MIKOLL, YESAWICH, MERCURE and HARVEY, JJ.

YESAWICH, Justice.

Appeal from that part of a judgment of the Supreme Court (McDermott, J.) granting maintenance to plaintiff, entered October 20, 1988 in Albany County, upon a decision of the court, without a jury.

In May 1983, after 29 years of marriage and producing three children, all of whom are now emancipated, plaintiff and defendant separated, with the former retaining exclusive possession of the marital residence. Throughout the course of the marriage defendant was employed by New York Telephone Company while plaintiff, although able to obtain an associate's degree late in the marriage, did not secure remunerative employment for any extended period of time until the parties separated. While the instant separation action was pending, plaintiff was awarded $400 per month temporary maintenance and $400 per month child support for a son then in her custody. Additionally, defendant was required to pay approximately $235 per month in mortgage payments, insurance and taxes on the parties' $100,000 marital residence, as well as plaintiff's counsel fees.

The parties, by stipulation, settled all issues in this action, save for the amount of maintenance, and as to that issue, the parties agreed to its resolution by Supreme Court on affidavits. When the judgment of separation was entered in January 1988, plaintiff was 54 years of age and defendant was 57. In 1987 defendant earned approximately $53,000 and plaintiff, who was then and is now employed by the State, earned about $17,400. Plaintiff estimated her monthly living expenses to be $2,162.27 compared to $1,266.16 which she projected to be her monthly expenses when she applied for temporary support for herself and her unemancipated child four years earlier. Supreme Court awarded maintenance of $1,100 per month to plaintiff and required defendant to name plaintiff his beneficiary on a company life insurance policy and to carry plaintiff on his health insurance. Defendant appeals only from the award of maintenance.

Although Supreme Court's brief decision, by itself, does not comply with Domestic Relations Law § 236(B)(6)(a) and (b), the judgment of separation and findings of fact and conclusions of law underlying the judgment reflect the court's analysis of the statutory factors bearing on maintenance as applied to the facts of this case, such that the technical error was harmless (cf., Rogers v. Rogers, 116 A.D.2d 710, 711, 497 N.Y.S.2d 763; accord, Diachuk v. Diachuk, 117 A.D.2d 985, 986, 499 N.Y.S.2d 532). Nor were the court's deviations from the prototype laid out in 22 NYCRR 202.50(b) (Appendix A-2) substantial enough to undermine the validity of those documents. In any event, the record provides an adequate evidentiary basis for appellate review of the decision (see, Donnelly v. Donnelly, 144 A.D.2d 797, 799, 534 N.Y.S.2d 766, 768).

It was an abuse of discretion, however, to increase the level of maintenance to $1,100 per month. We note parenthetically that since the proof was submitted on papers, and thus witness demeanor was not an element in the decision reached by Supreme Court, deference to that court's ruling on credibility issues is less than it would be otherwise.

Spousal maintenance "seeks to allow 'the recipient spouse an opportunity to achieve [economic] independence' " (O'Brien v. O'Brien, 66 N.Y.2d 576, 585, 498 N.Y.S.2d 743, 489 N.E.2d 712, quoting Assembly mem, 1980 NY Legis Ann, at 130). Plaintiff has already demonstrated that she is capable of self-support,...