Sirgutz v. Sirgutz

• Decision Date: 28 April 2021
• Docket Number: No. 4D20-1875,4D20-1875
• Citation: 319 So.3d 39
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals
• Parties: Roberta SIRGUTZ, Appellant, v. Brian SIRGUTZ and Stanley Sirgutz, Appellees.

319 So.3d 39

Roberta SIRGUTZ, Appellant,

v.Brian SIRGUTZ and Stanley Sirgutz, Appellees.

No. 4D20-1875

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

[April 28, 2021]

Esther A. Zaretsky of Law Offices of Esther A. Zaretsky, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Brian M. Moskowitz of Law Offices of Brian M. Moskowitz, West Palm Beach, for appellees.

May, J.

The former wife appeals a final summary judgment in favor of the former husband's estate that also dismissed her additional claims raised for the first time in her motion for summary judgment. She argues the trial court erred in ruling in favor of the former husband's estate because the Antenuptial Agreement provided that her alimony survived her former husband's death. We disagree and affirm.

The parties were married in New York. They executed an Antenuptial Agreement that provided in relevant part:

4. Each party waives, discharges and releases any and all claims and rights that he or she may acquire by reason of the Marriage, including but not limited:

(a) To a share in the estate of the other party, whether by way of dower, thirds, curtsey, survivor's allowance, family or statutory allowance, homestead property rights, community property rights, exempt property or distribution in intestacy; and

(b) To elect and to take against any last will and testament, codicil or testamentary substitute of the other party, whether heretofore or hereafter made, under Section 5-1.1 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law of the State of New York, any law amendatory thereof or supplementary or similar thereto, and the same or similar law of any other jurisdiction. This provision shall serve as a mutual waiver of the right of election in accordance with any statutory requirement; ...

5. Except as otherwise provided in this Antenuptial Agreement, in the event that the Marriage contemplated herein terminates by divorce, annulment, separation, or death of one of the parties, each of the parties releases and waives all rights that he or she may have or acquire in the Separate Property of the other under any laws of any state or foreign nation as presently or hereafter in effect providing for equitable distribution of income or property upon such termination. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each party specifically waives the right of equitable distribution of marital property or any right of a distributive award under the laws of the State of New York as these terms are now defined in the Domestic Relations Law of the State of New York and as they may at any time in the future be defined by such law or any successor statute.

6. Each party hereto waives any right to support, alimony, maintenance or temporary maintenance under the laws of New York State or of any other applicable jurisdiction now or following the Marriage between the parties, except as hereinafter provided in this Article 6.

(iv) (g). If a judgment of separation, divorce or annulment is entered in a proceeding between the parties commenced more than twenty years after the date of the Marriage, the husband shall pay to the wife, for her support and maintenance, $75,000 per year (in twelve equal monthly installments) for a period of two years after the date of entry of such judgment or until the wife's earlier death or remarriage....

7. Notwithstanding the provision of Article 4, if the parties are still married to each other and residing together at the time of the [h]usband's death, the [h]usband desires to make a fair and reasonable provision for the [w]ife in lieu of the rights that, after the Marriage, she might or could have had as [w]ife or widow absent this Antenuptial Agreement. The parties therefore agree to the following:

The [h]usband shall, upon the marriage, provide in his last will and testament for a trust fund to take effect upon his death, wherein $200,000 will be placed in trust, the income from said trust to be paid to the [w]ife until the [w]ife's death or remarriage.

....

16. This Antenuptial Agreement shall inure to the benefit and shall be binding upon the heirs, executors, administrators and assigns of the parties.

....

19. This Antenuptial Agreement shall be governed, construed, interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

(Emphasis added). The Antenuptial Agreement was signed by both parties and notarized.

The parties subsequently executed a Modification Agreement, which provided in relevant part:

4. The parties agree that paragraph 4 of the Antenuptial Agreement regarding the [w]ife's waiver of her rights pursuant to the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law of the State of New York is hereby declared null and void, it being the intention of the parties to provide the [w]ife with all of the rights and remedies provided under said statute.

5. It is further agreed that paragraph 7 of the Antenuptial Agreement is hereby declared null and void and as such the [h]usband shall have no obligation whatsoever to establish a trust whereby the [w]ife is entitled to receive income therefrom, it being the intention of the parties that said previous obligation is unnecessary in light of the provisions set forth in paragraph 4 hereinabove.

The Modification Agreement was signed by both parties and two witnesses, but not notarized.

The former husband petitioned for a marriage dissolution in Florida. Because the former wife did not reside in Florida, the trial court was able to exercise jurisdiction only over the dissolution. The trial court entered a final judgment dissolving the marriage, but did not determine the distribution of the parties’ marital assets, alimony, or support. A week later, the former husband died.

The former wife sued the former husband's estate for enforcement of the Antenuptial Agreement. She alleged entitlement to lump sum alimony of $150,000 under the parties’ Antenuptial Agreement and a declaration that the Modification Agreement voided the Antenuptial Agreement's waiver provisions.

The former wife moved for summary judgment, arguing the Antenuptial Agreement evinced an intent for the lump sum alimony obligation to survive the former husband's death and that she was entitled to homestead property, support, and other marital property. The former husband's estate cross-moved for summary judgment. In response, it argued the Antenuptial Agreement did not evince an intent for the lump sum alimony to survive the former husband's death and the former wife's remaining claims were not properly pled in her complaint.

Following a hearing, the trial court denied the former wife's motion for summary judgment and granted the former husband's estate's cross-motion. The trial court dismissed the former wife's additional claims. The trial court entered a final judgment for the former husband's estate.

The former wife now appeals.

• The Lump Sum Alimony Did Not Survive the Former Husband's Death.

The former wife argues the trial court erred in ruling the Antenuptial Agreement's lump sum alimony obligation did not survive the former husband's death because the clear intent of the agreement was to provide her with survivorship benefits after a dissolution of their marriage. The former husband's estate responds the former husband's obligations terminated upon his passing because the Antenuptial Agreement did not explicitly provide for, nor expressed an intent for survivorship benefits following a marriage dissolution.

"Summary judgment is proper if there is no genuine issue of material fact and if the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Volusia Cnty. v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P. , 760 So. 2d 126, 130 (Fla. 2000). This Court reviews a trial court's ruling on summary judgment de novo. Id.

This issue is governed by New York law because the Antenuptial Agreement was executed in New York and includes a provision mandating its interpretation under New York law. See Lamb v. Lamb , 154 So. 3d 465, 467 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015) ("Generally, Florida courts enforce contractual choice-of-law provisions unless enforcing the chosen forum's law would contravene strong Florida public policy.").

Under New York law, it is a "well-accepted proposition that a husband's obligation to support his wife terminates with the husband's death." Cohen v. Cronin , 39 N.Y.2d 42, 45, 382 N.Y.S.2d 724, 346 N.E.2d 524 (1976). "However, the husband might, by agreement, impose upon his estate a duty to make alimony or support payments after his death." Id. "[T]o bind the estate, a separation agreement must either specifically provide for the continuation of payments or evince, from the terms of the agreement read as a whole, a clear intention that support payments continue , notwithstanding the husband's death." Id. (emphasis added).

The former wife concedes the Antenuptial Agreement does not expressly provide that the lump sum alimony provision survive the former husband's death, but argues that, taken as a whole, its provisions evince an intent to provide as such. She relies on Cohen and Matter of Riconda , 90 N.Y.2d 733, 665 N.Y.S.2d 392, 688 N.E.2d 248 (1997), in support.

In Cohen , the New York Court of Appeals concluded the husband's estate was required to make support payments under the terms of the parties’ separation agreement. 39 N.Y.2d at 47, 382 N.Y.S.2d 724, 346 N.E.2d 524. There, the agreement provided that payments would terminate where the wife remarried, or the obligation expired. Id. at 46, 382 N.Y.S.2d 724, 346 N.E.2d 524. It did not include language suggesting payments were to be made during the joint lives of the parties or terminate upon death of either party. Id. The court reasoned that "in consideration for the release of her other marital rights, the wife acquired the security of having periodic payments made for her support during her lifetime, or, at least, until a remarriage." Id . at 46–47, 382 N.Y.S.2d 724, 346 N.E.2d 524.

Cohen is inapplicable here, however, because the Antenuptial Agreement includes other support for the former spouse.

In Riconda , the Court of...