A woman who accepted title to the family home as prepayment for 15 years of child support cannot seek arrears simply because the house sold for only two-thirds of the value estimated at the time of the divorce, a Long Island judge has held.
“The law is clear that both [the Domestic Relations Law] and the public policy in favor of finality require the enforcement of property distribution agreements pursuant to their terms, absent fraud, regardless of post-agreement changes in the values of the assets,” Supreme Court Justice Anthony J. Falanga of Nassau County (See Profile) wrote in Deabreu v. Deabreu, 04-203424.
