New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

I just wanted to announce the debut of the new and much improved Clementlaw web-site. The Practice Areas part of the site provides some useful and practical information about divorce, separation, child custody, equitable distribution, the different types of marital agreements and other areas under the broad umbrella of family law practice. You are invited to explore. I would love to hear your comments as to its user friendliness and readability.... More

Divorce, illness and a long term disability are the most common life events that have a catastrophic effect on a person’s financial well being.  All too frequently a person going through divorce watches as his/her credit rating is destroyed by the former spouse. The  Ask the Advisor Blog has some great tips for protecting your credit after divorce.  Chief among his tips are: 1.Check Your Credit Score — By checking your credit score you can see if your credit has been adversely affected by your divorce. It will also show if there are any debts that you used to share... More

The Appellate Division in Walker v. Walker provides us with yet another lesson on the importance of carefully drafting martial agreements. In Walker, the parties, in an oral stipulation of settlement, agreed to divide a 75 acre property. The stipulation specifically provided that defendant "would be entitled to one-half or 37½; acres off the westerly side of that parcel of 75 acres (emphasis added)."  Not surprisingly, the parties then had a dispute about how the property was to be actually divided. On appeal, the Court found that the stipulation was ambiguous, because there is no mechanism by which to determine... More

The Appellate Division in Van Kipnis v. Van Kipnis enforced a pre-nuptial agreement which the parties entered into in France in 1965.  The agreement provided that “Each spouse shall retain ownership and possession of the chattels and real property that he/she may own at this time or may come to own subsequently by any means whatsoever.” Although there is a presumption under New York law that property acquired during the marriage is marital, the Court found that the presumption was overcome by the unambiguous terms of the parties’ agreement and their conduct in keeping their assets separate. As a consequence,... More