Raff v. Raff

• Decision Date: 05 May 1986
• Citation: 120 A.D.2d 507,501 N.Y.S.2d 707
• Parties: Barry W. RAFF, Appellant, v. Anne M. RAFF, Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 707

501 N.Y.S.2d 707

120 A.D.2d 507

Barry W. RAFF, Appellant, v. Anne M. RAFF, Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division,

Second Department.

May 5, 1986.

Cerrato, Swenney, Cohn, Stahl & Vaccaro, White Plains (Carl Stahl, of counsel), for appellant.

Stanley Alter, P.C., New York City (Stephanie S. Alter, of counsel), for respondent.

Before LAWRENCE, J.P., and EIBER, KUNZEMAN and KOOPER, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

In a matrimonial action, the plaintiff husband appeals, as limited by his notice of appeal and brief, from so much of a judgment of the Supreme Court, Westchester County (Burchell, J.), entered November 29, 1984, as (1) awarded the defendant $175,000 as her equitable share of the plaintiff's medical license, and (2) awarded attorney's and expert's fees to the defendant.

Judgment modified, by deleting the third decretal paragraph. As so modified, judgment affirmed insofar as appealed from, without costs or disbursements, and matter is remitted to Supreme Court, Westchester County, for further proceedings consistent herewith.

With respect to the issue of the value of the plaintiff's medical license, we note that in O'Brien v. O'Brien, 66 N.Y.2d 576, 498 N.Y.S.2d 743, 489 N.E.2d 712, the Court of Appeals held that a medical license acquired by one spouse during the course of a marriage is marital property within the meaning of Domestic Relations Law § 236(B)(1)(c) and is therefore subject to equitable distribution pursuant to § 236(B)(5) of that law. The court further noted that the value of such a license was "the enhanced earning capacity it afford[ed] the holder" (O'Brien v. O'Brien, supra, at p. 588, 498 N.Y.S.2d 743, 489 N.E.2d 712).

In the instant case, the parties were married on June 15, 1974. The plaintiff husband was over 30 years old at that time, and he had held a degree in engineering since 1964, and an advanced degree (Master of Science) in engineering since 1967, and had worked as an engineer. However, at the time of the marriage, the plaintiff had left his engineering employment and was applying to various medical schools in the United States and abroad. In September 1974 the plaintiff was admitted to a medical school in Switzerland, and he and the defendant, his wife, left for Europe. The plaintiff pursued his medical training in Switzerland until 1976, when he transferred to a medical school in Boston where he completed his medical studies in May of 1979. After graduation, the plaintiff began work as an intern at a hospital. After his internship, he was employed as a resident at another hospital. In July of 1982 the parties moved to Rye, New York. The plaintiff took the examination for board...