G.M. v. M.M. (Westchester Supreme)

Plaintiff-wife and defendant-husband were married in 1989.  However, in 2003, the husband fathered two more children in a secret relationship with another woman.  This secret relationship and family was discovered in 2012 by his wife.  The court found that the husband was diverting his marital income to support this woman’s rent and utility expenses.  Because of this wasteful dissipation of assets by the husband, the court awarded the wife sole and exclusive title of the marital residence (valued at $425,000) even though both husband and wife contributed to the down payment.  The court justified this disproportionate distribution of the equity in the marital home because the defendant’s conduct of dissipating marital funds for so many years during the marriage justified it.

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