Gannon v. Gannon
| Decision Date | 24 January 1986 |
| Citation | 498 N.Y.S.2d 647,116 A.D.2d 1030 |
| Parties | Gordon GANNON, Jr., Respondent, v. Rita B. GANNON, Appellant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Louise E. Carey, Buffalo, for appellant.
Thomas D'Agostino, Buffalo, for respondent.
Before DOERR, J.P., and BOOMER, O'DONNELL and SCHNEPP, JJ.
The trial court distributed equitably the marital residence and made appropriate distributive awards of certain nonliquid marital assets, including plaintiff husband's military retirement pension, but erred in fixing the amount and duration of the maintenance award to appellant wife and in treating 1,070 shares of husband's Truly Magic Corporation stock and his IRA account as separate property, and we delete these decretal paragraphs from the judgment. The maintenance award of $80 per week is inadequate to meet her reasonable needs and the court did not properly explain the factors it considered and the reasons for its decision (Domestic Relations Law § 236). Moreover, the termination of maintenance at "such time as the defendant (wife) receives the military retirement pension benefits * * * or receives Social Security benefits" was improper and unwarranted. The record establishes husband's eligibility to receive this pension when he becomes 60 years of age, but is silent as to the wife's Social Security benefits.
Wife, who was born on September 8, 1930 and holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and a master's degree in elementary education, was employed full time as a teacher until the parties were married on December 29, 1954. During this 27 1/2-year union she maintained the marital home and raised the parties' five children, the youngest of whom was born on February 3, 1965, and the wife worked sporadically as a substitute teacher. She is now employed as an associate librarian at a private school earning approximately $10,000 annually. Husband, who was born on December 8, 1932, is a practicing attorney and a member of a family law firm. His income from the law practice in 1983 totaled $24,000, an amount which the court properly termed "modest".
The record is clear that wife sacrificed her once marketable teaching skills in order to raise a family and there is no doubt that she contributed to the development of husband's career. The master's degree in education, a factor stressed by the trial court, under these circumstances and in view of her age, would not serve to enhance her employment opportunities in this field. At age 62, when the pension is distributed, she will be either retired or close to mandatory retirement and may not even be earning her present income and it is highly unlikely that she will be able to achieve a level of financial...
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...our discretionary authority to direct that defendant pay plaintiff's counsel fees generated by this appeal (see, Gannon v. Gannon, 116 A.D.2d 1030, 498 N.Y.S.2d 647). Application to fix the amount of such counsel fees and expenses should be made to the trial court. We have reviewed defendan......
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Lawton v. Lawton
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Fry v. Fry
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