Finley v. Turner

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department modified a judgment of divorce concerning income calculations, maintenance, child support, equitable distribution, and custody. It held that the trial court improperly averaged income and imputed unsupported income, improperly distributed certain Ameriprise funds, and failed to determine the distribution of a retirement account and the value and distribution of a vehicle. The matter was remitted for new determinations, while joint legal custody with final decision-making authority to the defendant and sole physical custody to the defendant were directed, and interim maintenance and child support payments were continued.

Holdings

1. The trial court improperly averaged each party's income from 2014 through 2018 and its imputation of income to the plaintiff, including reliance on purported rejected job offers, was unsupported by the record. The income determinations, maintenance award, and child-support award were deleted and remanded for new determinations.
2. The trial court properly considered relevant equitable-distribution factors and properly awarded the defendant half of the appreciation in the plaintiff's premarital apartment, but its distribution of the Ameriprise accounts and additional awards of $150,000 and $180,000 were unsupported or improper. The affected property determinations were deleted or remanded for redetermination.
3. The trial court erred by failing to determine the distribution of the defendant's individual retirement account and by failing to consider the plaintiff's request for equitable distribution of the 2017 Honda Pilot. The matter was remanded for those determinations, including a determination of the vehicle's value.
4. The award of sole physical custody to the defendant, with parenting time to the plaintiff, had a sound and substantial basis in the record. The award of sole legal custody to the defendant did not, because both parties requested joint legal custody and the judgment contemplated joint legal custody with final decision-making authority to the defendant. The judgment was modified to award joint legal custody, final decision-making authority to the defendant, and sole physical custody to the defendant subject to the existing parenting schedule.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court properly calculated and imputed the parties' incomes for maintenance and child-support purposes.
2. Whether the trial court properly determined the parties' equitable distribution of the Ameriprise accounts and related property.
3. Whether the trial court properly addressed distribution of the defendant's individual retirement account, the 2017 Honda Pilot, and credits for carrying charges on the marital residence.
4. Whether the trial court properly awarded the defendant sole legal and physical custody.
5. Whether the judgment should be modified and remanded for new determinations and entry of an amended judgment.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded