Patete v. Rodriguez

• Decision Date: 21 August 2013
• Citation: 971 N.Y.S.2d 109,109 A.D.3d 595,2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 05682
• Parties: Ralph PATETE, appellant, v. Irma RODRIGUEZ, respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

109 A.D.3d 595

971 N.Y.S.2d 109

2013 N.Y. Slip Op. 05682

Ralph PATETE, appellant,

v.Irma RODRIGUEZ, respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Aug. 21, 2013.

Glenn S. Koopersmith, Garden City, N.Y., for appellant.

Ann L. Detiere, New York, N.Y., for respondent.

WILLIAM F. MASTRO, J.P., CHERYL E. CHAMBERS, L. PRISCILLA HALL, and ROBERT J. MILLER, JJ.

In an action for a divorce and ancillary relief, the plaintiff appeals, as limited by his brief, from stated portions of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Jackman–Brown, J.), entered February 23, 2012, which, upon decisions dated June 29, 2011, and August 11, 2011, respectively, and upon the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the same court entered February 23, 2012, made after a nonjury trial, inter alia, (a) failed to award him a separate property credit in the sum of $135,000 with respect to the purchase of the former marital residence, (b) awarded the defendant 50% of the sale proceeds of an unimproved parcel of real property located in Puerto Rico known as “El Verde,” (c) failed to award him a separate property credit in the sum of $15,000 representing funds which were used to remodel an upstairs bathroom at a house located on 64th Street, in Maspeth, Queens, (d) awarded the defendant counsel fees in the sum of $78,000, and failed to award him counsel fees, (e) awarded the defendant child support in the monthly sum of $1,303.34, retroactive to October 1, 2011, until the parties' youngest daughter attains the age of 21 or is sooner emancipated, (f) directed him to pay 50% of the college tuition and related expenses for the parties' youngest child, computed with a “SUNY cap,” retroactive to commencement of the instant action for a period of three years, and (g) failed to award him a credit of 50% of $49,000 in marital assets allegedly converted by the defendant in anticipation of commencement of the instant action.

ORDERED that the judgment is modified, on the law, on the facts, and in the exercise of discretion, by (1) adding a provision thereto awarding the plaintiff a separateproperty credit in the sum of $121,330.53 representing his contribution of separate funds to purchase the former marital residence, (2) deleting the provision thereof awarding the defendant 50% of the sale proceeds of an unimproved parcel of real property located in Puerto Rico known as “El Verde,” and substituting therefor provisions (a) awarding the plaintiff ownership of that property as his separate property, and (b) awarding the defendant the sum of $11,124.14 as a distributive award attributable to that property, (3) adding a provision thereto awarding the plaintiff a separate property credit in the sum of $15,000 representing funds which were used to remodel an upstairs bathroom at a house located on 64th Street in Maspeth, Queens, and (4) deleting the provision thereof directing the plaintiff to pay 50% of the college tuition and related expenses for the parties' youngest child, computed with a “SUNY cap,” retroactive to commencement of the instant action for a period of three years, and substituting therefor a provision directing the plaintiff to pay 39% of the college tuition and related expenses for the parties' youngest child, computed with a “SUNY cap,” retroactive to the child's first year and continuing until she graduates, reaches the age of 21, or is sooner emancipated, and that his child support obligation be decreased by the amount of any college room and board expenses the plaintiff incurs while the child attends college; as so modified, the judgment is affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements, and the matter is remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for the entry of an amended judgment.

The parties married for the first time on December 24, 1978. On May 14, 1980, during this marriage, they jointly purchased a house located on 68th Street in Maspeth, Queens (hereinafter the 68th Street property). However, the parties entered into a separation agreement on February 8, 1981, pursuant to which, on the same date, the defendant conveyed her interest in the 68th Street property to the plaintiff. The parties divorced on March 5, 1981. The divorce decree incorporated but did not merge the separation agreement. The defendant's name was never placed back on the deed to the house prior to their second marriage, in 1985. The plaintiff sold the 68th Street property on February 17, 1987, and used a total of $125,000 of the proceeds to purchase the former marital home, located on 64th Street in Maspeth, Queens (hereinafter the 64th Street property).

The bargain and sale deed by which the defendant conveyed her interest in the 68th Street property to the plaintiff was duly executed by the defendant and was accompanied by a notarized acknowledgment. This gave rise to a presumption of due execution ( see Nidositko v. Nidositko, 92 A.D.3d 653, 654, 938 N.Y.S.2d 569;D'Elia v. D'Elia, 14 A.D.3d 477, 478, 788 N.Y.S.2d 156;Elder v. Elder, 2 A.D.3d 671, 672, 770 N.Y.S.2d 95), which the defendant failed to rebut. Although she correctly points out that “[t]he transfer of title to a marital residence between spouses during the marriage is not determinative of whether the property is separate or marital” ( La Rochelle v. La Rochelle, 44 A.D.3d 1011, 1011, 845 N.Y.S.2d 793), the subject transfer took place pursuant to a separation agreement, and prior to the marriage at issue herein. Significantly, the separation agreement was incorporated but not merged into the judgment of divorce that ended the parties' first marriage. Consequently, since the defendant has failed to adduce any evidence to rebut the presumption that the subject deed was duly executed, it validly transferred the defendant's pre-marital interest in the 68th Street property to the plaintiff. Moreover, since this property remained solely titled in the plaintiff's name until he sold it in 1987, it remained his separate property until the sale. Accordingly, as the plaintiff contends, the documented use of two checks from the sale of the 68th Street property in the sums of $82,500 and $42,500 (totaling $125,000) to purchase the 64th Street property, which was clearly marital property, entitles him to a separate property credit for this contribution of separate funds to purchase the former marital home in the sum of $125,000 ( see Golden v. Golden, 98 A.D.3d 647, 649, 949 N.Y.S.2d 753).

Nonetheless, the plaintiff did not overcome the presumption that the funds used to make mortgage payments with respect to the 68th Street property during the course of the subject marriage, i.e., from March 15, 1985 (the date of the second marriage), to February 17, 1987 (when the house was sold), were marital ( seeDomestic Relations Law § 236[B][1][c]; Shah v. Shah, 100 A.D.3d 734, 735, 954 N.Y.S.2d 129;Spera v. Spera, 71 A.D.3d 661, 664, 898 N.Y.S.2d 548). Thus, the defendant should receive a credit for one-half of the marital funds used to the pay this mortgage on the plaintiff's separate property ( see Khan v. Ahmed, 98 A.D.3d 471, 472–473, 949 N.Y.S.2d 428;Bernholc v. Bornstein, 72 A.D.3d 625, 628, 898 N.Y.S.2d 228). The record demonstrates that the total amount of marital funds used for this purpose was $7,338.94, one-half of which is $3,669.47. Accordingly, the defendant's separate property credit for his contribution of separate funds to purchase the former marital home in the sum of $125,000 must be reduced by $3,669.47, resulting in a final separate property credit in the sum of $121,330.53 ( see Davidman v. Davidman, 97 A.D.3d 627, 628, 948 N.Y.S.2d 639).

However, the defendant is not entitled to the increase in the value, if any, of the 68th Street property that occurred during the course of the subject marriage. Although the appreciation of, or increase in the value of, separate property is considered separate property, “except to the extent that such appreciation is due in part to the contributions or efforts of the other spouse” (Domestic Relations Law § 236[B][1][d][3] ), here, the defendant failed to carry her burden establishing that the 68th Street property appreciated in value during the parties' marriage and, if so, that such appreciation was due in part to her efforts ( see Davidman v. Davidman, 97 A.D.3d at 628, 948 N.Y.S.2d 639).

The plaintiff's contention that he is entitled to a separate property credit for $10,000 used as part of the parties' down payment on the former marital home (the 64th Street property), which funds he claims were a gift to him from his mother, is without merit. The defendant testified that these funds were a gift to both parties, and under the circumstances presented here, we decline to disturb the Supreme Court's credibility determination which formed the basis for its denial of the plaintiff's request for an award of the claimed separate property ( see Formica v. Formica, 101 A.D.3d 805, 806, 957 N.Y.S.2d 149;Campione v. Alberti, 98 A.D.3d 706, 707, 950 N.Y.S.2d 392).

Although the defendant does not take issue on appeal with the plaintiff's contention that a property located in Puerto Rico consisting of a vacant lot, known as “El Verde,” is his separate property, she contends that she is entitled to a portion of the appreciation in its value...