In Steele v. Steele, the New Jersey Appellate Division reviewed an appeal from the Chancery Division that enforced a marital agreement. The husband-plaintiff’s lawyer drafted a pre-marital agreement before the marriage proposal. But the plaintiff never broached the subject of the agreement with his wife until after they were married. After they wed, the wife … Read more
In Goodwin v. Goodwin, Husband challenged the trial court’s equitable distribution of the marital estate in the divorce proceedings between him and Wife. Husband and Wife were together for decades and were never previously married. Wife was Son’s biological mother, though Husband was not the biological father and did not adopt Son. Son died before … Read more
Ippolito v. Ippoplito involved a dispute about an attorney’s lien asserted by one of Husband’s former attorneys on an escrow account holding the net proceeds of a sale of marital property. During the divorce proceeding, the trial court recognized Husband’s theoretical entitlement to half the marital assets, but, because Husband failed to comply with his … Read more
A husband and wife divorced and entered into a property settlement agreement that compelled the wife to make payments to the husband. But soon thereafter, she declared bankruptcy and sought to discharge her obligation to the ex-husband. In Hanrahan v. Ketch, the Pennsylvania Superior Court was asked to determine if the wife’s debt owed to … Read more
In M.E.W. v. W.L.W., the Superior Court reversed the lower court’s order discharging the father’s child support obligation because the lower court reviewed the incapacitated adult child’s assets to downward adjust the father’s support obligation. The Court held that such a review is only appropriate when the parent’s resources are lacking, and the father was … Read more
In A.L.B. v. M.D.L., the Superior Court analyzed the 16-factor test set forth in 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 5328(a) in analyzing a trial court’s “drastic action,” awarding sole legal and primary physical custody of children, in a bitter and contentious divorce and child custody matter.
In a rare unanimous opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Estate of Benyo v. Breidenbach that a provision in a property settlement agreement between divorcing spouses, directing a spouse’s municipal pension to be transferred once paid out to the beneficiary from the provider is an enforceable contract provision under the Police Pension Fund Law, Municipal … Read more
This appeal involved the validity of a post-nuptial settlement agreement. After Husband petitioned for enforcement of the settlement agreement, Wife counter-petitioned claiming, amongst other things, that the agreement is not enforceable because she signed it under duress. The trial court invalidated the agreement. Husband appealed. The Superior Court noted that the importance of the determination … Read more
The defendant in a divorce action was determined to be disabled by the Social Security Administration. Relying on Gilligan v. Gilligan, 428 N.J. Super. 69 (Ch. Div. 2012), the Appellate Division held that the SSA’s determination alone was insufficient to prove a disability. The Appellate Division abrogated Gilligan to the extent that it conflicts with Golian v. … Read more