On July 19 the equitable distribution law marked its 30th anniversary. While one’s first instinct might have been to belt out the birthday song, in view of the recent Court of Appeals decision in Fields v. Fields,1 a funeral dirge might have been more appropriate.
The Facts
Fields dealt with a simple and fundamental issue of property classification. The parties were married in 1970. In 1978, the husband, together with his mother, purchased a multi-unit Manhattan townhouse for a purchase price of $130,000. The down-payment was $30,000. The husband obtained his half of the down-payment from a $15,000 gift from his grandparents. They also advanced the remaining $15,000 of the down-payment as a loan which the husband’s mother agreed to repay.
