Representative Matters

• Issued a 93-page opinion in a highly contentious divorce case related to the interpretation the parties’ prenuptial agreement and allocation and property and debts not covered by the agreement; the court heard over 30 days of testimony and reviewed over 2,000 pages of exhibits; one party was also seeking approximately $1 million in Section 137 sanctions; case affirmed on appeal
• Presided over contested parenting time and decision-making issues of parties with a 4-year-old child; the court heard 28 days of testimony and three days of oral arguments, taking testimony from 22 witnesses, including a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a treating pediatrician; the court also heard testimony of an addiction expert; issued a 43-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a contested motion to dismiss husband’s petition to declare marriage invalid; petition was filed 26 years after the parties married and six years after the parties’ divorce; the husband alleged he was under the dominance and control (duress) of the wife based upon an improper relationship prior to the marriage; decision affirmed on appeal
• Presided over and settled divorce proceedings involving contested parenting time and financial issues‘ parties disputed allocation of a $5 million estate, as well as maintenance for one of the spouses
• Presided over post-decree motions filed by both parties involving a request for out-of-state relocation of a custodial parent and transportation of a minor without permission; while the matter was pending, the wife removed the children to Bulgaria without the court’s permission; conducted a judicial jurisdictional conference with a Bulgarian judicial officer and determined sanctions and child support owing; issued an 18-page decision (on appeal)
• Presided over a 14-day divorce trial determining whether husband’s rental property was his nonmarital property, determining whether husband’s nonmarital estate should reimburse the marital estate, determining the nonmarital portion of husband’s retirement account based upon the evaluation report by actuary, determining whether husband’s nonmarital property was transmuted into marital property, determining cross-dissipation claims of the parties, determining whether the wife was entitled to indefinite maintenance based upon alleged disability and determining the wife’s petition for attorneys’ fees; issued a 58-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a 20-day trial on spouse’s petition for declaratory judgment on the validity of a postnuptial agreement of the parties; one spouse was a professional, earning approximately $2 million per year, and the other spouse was earning under $100,000 per year; heard legal arguments related to unconscionability, lack of capacity (addiction issues), laches, breach of fiduciary duty and lack of consideration; written decision issued; no appeal
• Presided over a wife’s petition to declare marriage invalid because the husband lacked the capacity to consummate the marriage by sexual intercourse and the wife alleged she did not know of the incapacity at the time of the marriage; the wife alleged that the husband had a sexually transmitted disease he did not disclose prior to the marriage; the case was resolved after a settlement conference and analysis of the case law
• Presided over a three-day divorce trial relative to the present value of the wife’s teacher pension and allocation of the marital estate; the court heard the testimony of the two competing actuaries and reviewed the actuary reports; the Court issued a 40-page written decision; no appeal
• Presided over an 18-day post-decree proceeding involving 31 separate petitions and motions related to the husband’s request to terminate and/or modify maintenance and child support (due to loss of employment) and the wife’s request to hold husband in contempt; the parties were married for 37 years and the husband was earning over $700,000 per year at the time of the divorce when the parties entered into marital settlement agreement; issued a 65-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a one-day post-decree hearing involving the parties’ dispute whether their teenage children should be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine; the parties had joint decision-making; the court heard testimony of the guardian ad litem relative to the children’s wishes and the pediatrician’s opinion; issued a written opinion; no appeal
• Presided over contentious divorce proceeding involving disputes regarding the allocation of parenting time and decision-making regarding four minor children under 10 years old; the court reviewed two custody evaluations: one from a psychiatrist and one from a psychologist; the case settled after several pre-trial conferences
• Presided over a five-day hearing on a wife’s amended motion to dismiss husband’s petition to declare marriage invalid based upon forum non-conveniens; the wife requested that proceeding be transferred to her current residence in France; the husband argued Supreme Court Rule 187 was unconstitutional as applied to this case; issued a 16-page decision; ruling affirmed on appeal
• Presided over a six-day divorce trial with several contested issues, including the value of husband’s ownership interest in his family business with $10 million in annual revenue, whether his interest was nonmarital or marital, and the amount of the husband’s income in setting maintenance and child support; the court heard the testimony of several witnesses, including a Certified Public Accountant who evaluated the business; issued a 23-page opinion; no appeal
• Presided over a divorce proceedings involving an older couple that was married over 20 years with no children; the parties had assets exceeding $5 million; one spouse was seeking a disproportionate split of the assets based upon a substantial contribution of nonmarital assets to the marital estate; case settled after extensive pre-trial conference
• Presided over a divorce proceeding in which parties were married 12 years and had two minor children; the husband was a professional and the wife stayed home to care for the minor children; the allocation of parenting time was highly contested, but custody of the children was settled after a pre-trial conference; the court heard 14 days of testimony on child support, imputation of income, maintenance, dissipation of assets and attorneys’ fees; issued an 18-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a divorce proceeding in which the parties were married for over 20 years and had two minor children; the parties contested the allocation of assets, including the wife’s pension; the court heard seven days of trial, including the expert testimony of an actuary about collectability and value of the wife’s pension with a foreign government; issued a 37-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a two-day post-decree hearing on an ex-wife’s petition for reimbursement of college expenses she paid on behalf of her children, totaling approximately $280,000; the ex-wife filed her petition 18 years after the divorce, when the children were 35 and 39 years old, and 13 years after one child completed college; the marital settlement agreement had an unusual provision relative to the wife’s investment account used to fund the college education; issued a seven-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a spouse’s petition for finding of abuse of allocated parenting time; the court heard testimony of several witnesses over four days; issued a 42-page decision; no appeal
• Presided over a five-day hearing relative to a petition for order of protection; the court heard testimony of several witnesses, including an expert witness; oral decision issued; no appeal