Divorce Lawyers New York - Recent Family Law Decisons (25)
RECENT FAMILY LAW DECISIONS (25)
Life Insurance
Child as Beneficiary
A parent may be required to provide or maintain life insurance with his child as irrevocable beneficiary to ensure the fulfillment of his support obligation if he should die within the child’s minority.
Illustrative Cases
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding decedent’s children one-third of $300,000 life insurance policy; even though under the terms of the dissolution judgment the decedent was to maintain a life insurance policy for the benefit of his children, at the time of the judgment decedent had two policies in the total amount of $55,000.
Limitations
Death
A court does not have authority either: (1) to order a spouse or the estate of that spouse to make maintenance payments for a period extending beyond the death of that spouse, or (2) to require that spouse to secure income in lieu of maintenance to the other spouse after death of the first spouse by making the other spouse or a trustee for the other spouse the beneficiary of insurance policies on the life of the first spouse, or other contracts payable at the death of the first spouse.
Maintenance
In General
Maintenance has been defined as follows: it is for an indefinite period of time and usually for an indefinite total sum; it is based upon the payor’s income and the needs of the recipient determined from the standpoint of the manner in which they have been accustomed to live; it is modifiable after decree when the recipient’s needs increase or decrease, or when the payor’s ability to pay increases or decreases; it usually terminates upon the death of the payor, although by agreement payments may be made a charge upon the payor’s estate after they become due; it is never a charge on an estate in advance of the due date because it is not, prior to that time, vested; payments are not based upon any consideration but are based upon the common-law duty of support.
Ability to Pay
Where respondent presented evidence of outstanding debts, neither the tax liability nor the debt owed to a hospital was responsible for respondent’s failure to pay maintenance since he had made no payments towards those debts by the time of the respondent had the ability to pay maintenance during the period in question.
Appeal
The appeal of an award of maintenance is barred where the defendant’s acceptance of the benefits of the divorce decree which would distinctly disadvantage the plaintiff upon any redetermination of those rights.
