Divorce Lawyers New York - Recent Family Law Decisons (34)
RECENT FAMILY LAW DECISIONS (34)
Post-Judgment Relief
A petition under 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 is a proper ground for relief from a divorce decree which incorporates a written agreement which fails to express the real intention of the parties through mutual mistake, or through mistake of one side and fraud on the other, where the proof clearly and convincingly shows that a mistake was made and that it was mutual and common to both parties.
Remarriage of Supporting Parent
A factor the court may consider in an action to modify child support is whether the supporting parent has remarried; this fact is relevant because couples are likely to pool their resources, thereby possibly increasing the resources available to the supporting parent.
Settlement Agreement
Modification of a maintenance order based on the former wife’s receipt of social security disability benefits was not required where the settlement agreement referred to her impending receipt of such benefits.
The marital settlement agreement showed an intent on the part of the parties to preclude modification of maintenance.
The settlement agreement as reflected in the supplemental judgment of dissolution did not expressly limit reduction of maintenance to the condition of wife’s employment, and therefore did not preclude reduction of maintenance based upon a substantial change of circumstances.
Where a separation agreement was not incorporated into the judgment, the trial court correctly ruled that the agreement was not modifiable upon a showing of changed circumstances, as the agreement remained a contract enforceable only by contract remedies.
A clause in a settlement agreement prohibiting its modification is effective and not violative of public policy.
Typographical Error
A petition brought under 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 by former wife was not a property settlement modification which would have violated this section where she brought the petition to merely correct a typographical error and reform the agreement to accurately reflect the intent of all the parties involved.
Upheld
Where an agreed modification of a decree of dissolution provided for a $50 a month rent payment so that former wife could have moved, such modification was consistent with public policy of state.
Property Disposition
In General
The award of their interests in the home to the parties in the original dissolution of marriage judgment was a property disposition and not subject to modification as a form of child support.
Provisions of what is construed as a property settlement are no modifiable or revocable unless the court finds the existence of conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the laws of this state.
