Monday, February 25, 2002
Supreme Court
New York County
IA PART 31
Justice Drager
- ROBERT C. v. PAMELA R. ” In this divorce action arising from a marriage of seven weeks duration, the issues raised at trial were grounds, child support, maintenance and attorney fees. The parties agreed that the Defendant-Wife would have custody of the child. The Plaintiff-Husband is not seeking visitation. The parties waived equitable distribution. The court heard testimony on 12 days: January 13, February 1, 2, 3, 7, March 20, 29, 30, May 10, September 5, 6, and 7, 2000. The court has reviewed the vast array of exhibits offered into evidence, the affidavits submitted for pendente lite relief (by agreement of the parties), net worth statements and tax returns, and has also considered the post-trial briefs.
- The Husband is 51 years old. He is Canadian. This is his second marriage. He has three children from his prior marriage, two of whom are emancipated, and the youngest is aged fifteen. He has joint custody with his first wife of their unemancipated son. That child lives with his mother in Montreal. The Husband pays child support to his first wife pursuant to a court order. The Wife is 43 years old and an American. This is her first marriage and she has no children other than the one child of this marriage.
- The Husband is a chartered accountant in Canada. With several partners, over the past twenty years he developed a consulting firm (herein, “Iso Group”) that provides financial planning for businesses that develop medical equipment. The consulting firm had offices in Montreal, New York and Paris. Starting in 1998 the Husband worked a sufficiently significant amount of time in the United States that the business maintained an apartment for him in Manhattan. (2/2 Tr., 488-89; 2/3 Tr., 783-86)
- In January 1999 Iso Group was sold to The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (herein “IPG”) The negotiations for the sale occurred in 1998. As part of the deal, the Husband entered into a managerial employment contract with IPG, and worked primarily from a base office in Westport, Connecticut. (2/1 Tr., 360-364; 375-76)
- The Wife graduated from Cornell University with a B.F.A. in 1979. In 1983 she settled in Boston. Initially, she worked for a company that produced posters and other art work. Ultimately, in 1988 she established her own business to assist corporations in finding art for their offices. She ran that business until 1996. In December, 1996, the Wife moved to New York where she resided with her sister in a sublet apartment until 1998. (5/10 Tr., 510) She did not work once moving to New York.
- In May 1998, the Husband and Wife met and began to date. As part of his work, the Husband frequently entertained business clients at expensive restaurants. He also traveled to many places in North America and Europe. Prior to their marriage, the Wife often accompanied him. During the summer of 1998,the Wife became pregnant. At the Husband’s insistence, the Wife had an abortion. After the abortion, she stopped seeing the Husband because he wouldn’t marry her and she wanted to have children. The separation was of short duration. The couple resumed their relationship and became engaged by the end of September. In October 1998, the Wife again became pregnant. Since they were now to be married, they agreed to have the child. The parties married on December 6, 1998 in Connecticut and then resided in New York. (2/2 Tr., 460; 5/10 Tr., 11-15)
- Almost immediately, disagreements arose between the couple. The Wife claims that the Husband did not recognize that the pregnancy limited her activities. He was unsympathetic when she became sick and wanted her to continue to consume alcohol. The Husband claims that the Wife acted irrationally and complained that he did not earn enough money. He also feared that she would take action that would affect his immigration status. Problems also arose over the Wife’s interaction with the Husband’s children from his prior marriage. Both parties testified to physically and emotionally abusive conduct by the other. On January 12, 2001, the Husband left the apartment. The Wife obtained an order of protection on January 22, 1999. The Husband commenced this action on January 25, 1999, seven weeks after the date of the marriage
- Luke, the child of the marriage, was born July 30, 1999.
Grounds
