The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, has reversed a trial court ruling that said a man could not be forced to pay health premiums for his ex-wife beyond the period in which he paid maintenance. The panel unanimously reversed Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Dollinger of Rochester (See Profile) in Lomaglio v. Lomaglio, 12-01317, and reinstated a prior order requiring the plaintiff to indefinitely cover the cost of health insurance for his ex-wife.
In a decision last spring in Lomaglio v. Lomaglio, 2012 NY Slip Op 50855, Dollinger held that Domestic Relations Law §236B(8)(a) clearly states that an "obligation to provide…insurance shall cease upon the termination of the spouse’s duty to provide maintenance, child support or a distributive award." In Lomaglio, the ex-husband had agreed as part of a 1998 divorce settlement to pay maintenance for 18 months. The agreement made no mention of health insurance but the Fourth Department subsequently directed the man to pick up the health premiums, but did not indicate how long he would have to pay them. Dollinger deemed the Fourth Department’s prior order unclear and found no authority for an order directing non-durational health insurance (NYLJ, May 21, 2012).
