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

The success or lack of success of a marriage is apparently now statistically predictable. Since is it predictable, it may soon be possible to insure a marriage against divorce. MyNewMarkets.com reports that J. Christopher Westland, a professor of information and decision sciences, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, through an analysis of census data, has identified several factors that influence the likelihood of divorce. According to Professor Westland, the factors that put a marriage at risk include: “Age (younger is riskier); race (Asian is the lowest risk); whether a woman had forced premarital sex (a woman who has been... More

Just because an agreement between spouses splits assets in an unequal or one-sided basis does not render the agreement unconscionable. It has long to the policy of courts to hold parties to the terms of their agreements. An agreement between spouses, which is fair on its face, will be enforced even if one party received less than one half of the value of the marital assets unless there is proof of fraud, duress, overreaching, or unconscionability. In the recently decided case of Shultz v. Shultz, the Appellate Division detailed what makes an agreement unconscionable: An unconscionable bargain is one which... More

Citing a recent New York Times article, Victor Medina in the New Jersey Divorce and Family Law Blog, comments on the rise in the use of post-nuptial agreements, a trend I noted several months ago, here. Mr. Medina gives a great description of what post- nuptial agreements really are: What are “post-nuptial agreements”? Well, unlike pre-nuptial agreements, which deal with parties interested in getting married before they’re actually married, and unlike property settlement agreements, which deal with parties interested in not being married after they’re actually married…post nuptial agreements are intended for a married couple who did not previously enter... More