Khitri v. Aaglane-Khitri

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed an order denying the defendant's motion to vacate an open-court marital settlement agreement and restore the divorce action to the active calendar. The court held that the agreement contained all material terms and that the defendant failed to establish fraud, duress, overreaching, mistake, or extraordinary circumstances based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The court concluded that the settlement agreement was enforceable and that the Supreme Court properly denied the motion.

Holdings

1. The open-court settlement agreement was enforceable because it contained all of the material terms of an agreement and the defendant failed to establish fraud, duress, overreaching, mistake, or another sufficient ground for invalidating a contract.
2. Ineffective assistance of counsel did not warrant vacating the settlement agreement because the defendant failed to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the parties' open-court settlement agreement should be vacated because of fraud, duress, overreaching, or mistake.
2. Whether the settlement agreement should be vacated based on ineffective assistance of counsel.
3. Whether the divorce action should be restored to the active calendar.

Disposition

affirmed