In-Equitable Distribution; Divorce in NY

I am asked all the time; or rather told by my clients that the NY State Divorce Laws favor the ---fill in the blank based on who is speaking. While it is true that prior to equitable distribution it could be said that men were favored, since the inception of equitable distribution I find it difficult to give sway to either gender.

In the event there is a business involved the owner is apt to proclaim loudly that the business has no value and that he/she is the business and it makes no money and “ look here are the business records to prove it.” Well, we all know the tendency in many businesses to accept cash and should say this out loud? Not disclose all the income.
A crime if you intend to hide it from the IRS but common practice non the less. The outcome to the non-business owner spouse is the difficulty of proving the income they enjoyed as a married couple. Unless the spouse has all the bank records and even if he or she does, proving the income they believe the business makes can be a difficult task. Life style is certainly one component in proving that a business makes more than it admits to, however, as savvy as most matrimonial judges are regarding business ownership, they are loath to actually place a dollar amount on such income without any type of guidance.

W2 wage earnings may also be in the hot seat if in fact they are the non-custodial parent. Regardless of the residential parent’s income, courts are pretty straight forward in applying the CSSA rules straight against the income of the non-residential parent. Sure the court has the discretion to modify support over the $80,000 per year guidelines, but the discretion in this state varies from court to court in how support is applied thereafter.

Maintenance or what used to be called Alimony has taken quite a hit over the years. Gone pretty much are the days of lifetime maintenance and I have found many judges quite adamant about limiting the term advising the non working spouse to “get a job.” Giving more of the assets instead perhaps as a trade off for long term maintenance.

Custody, however, is a whole other ballgame and a blog for a different day. Stay Tuned!