Justice John Colangelo
Father F.C. sought to vacate a portion of a stipulation entered into by him and mother R.B., and ordered by the court in 2004. The stipulation, which arose from a custody and access dispute between the parties, pertained to the responsibility for certain expenses incurred during the dispute. Pursuant to the stipulation, F.C. agreed to waive his rights to seek attorney fees, reapportionment of fees charged for the court-appointed forensic evaluation, and for the attorney for the child up to the date of the stipulation. The instant motion arose during a hearing addressing the relative financial positions of the parties. F.C. claimed R.B. fraudulently induced him to enter into the stipulation, basing his claim primarily on R.B’s alleged intentional concealment from F.C. of her husband’s income and assets at the time. The court denied F.C.’s motion to vacate the stipulation, finding he failed to sustain his burden of proof regarding two essential elements of the alleged fraudnamely that R.B. possessed the requisite intent to deceive him, or that F.C. had a right to rely on any misstatements or omissions R.B. may have made in the body of her net worth statement.
