New York Domestic Relations Law Section 236(B)(1)(d) defines separate property as:(1) property acquired before marriage or property acquired by bequest, devise, or descent, or gift from a party other than the spouse;(2) compensation for personal injuries;(3) property acquired in exchange for the increase in value of separate property, except to the extent that such appreciation is due in part to the contribution or efforts of the other spouse;(4) property described as separate property by written agreement pursuant to subdivision three of this part.The case law has qualified this exclusion to instances where…
Is a gift given to one spouse protected from future equitable distribution claims by the other spouse?The burden of establishing immunity from equitable distribution of a particular asset rests with the party who seeks to exclude an asset. Painter v. Painter, 65 N.J. 196, 214 (1974). Ultimately, the fashioning of an appropriate allocation of marital property is vested in the discretion of the trial judge. Savoie v. Savoie, 245 N.J. Super. 1, 5 (App. Div. 1990). Nevertheless, the findings of fact must be supported by substantial credible evidence. Cesare v. Cesare, 154…
When planning a real estate investment as a married couple, location of your investment plays a big role for asset protection. In New Jersey, the property held by the entireties (as Husband and Wife) is protected from partition sale by creditors, but the interest of a debtor-spouse is subject to levy by that spouse's judgment-creditor (meaning that lien will attach to the property but the non-debtor spouse cannot be evicted) ( Freda v. Commercial Trust Co., 118 N.J. 36a). In a few states, Florida being one of them, assets held by the…
When the federal government enacted 12 USC 1701j-3, the purpose, as suggested in the title, was to preempt state legislative enactments and judicial decisions that prohibited enforcement of due-on-sale clauses. As of 1985, all of due-on-sale clauses are enforceable, thanks in part to this statute. The legislators provided several exceptions to the due-on-sale enforcement, among these is the ability to transfer encumbered property through devise, decent or operation of law after the death of joint tenant or tenant by the entirety under 12 USC 1701j-3(d)(3). Whether intended or not, this creates an…
This post is a high level overview of the patent prosecution process. A typical soup to nuts process in the USPTO lasts about three to five years. After the application is filed and granted a filing date, the application will be placed in a queue. This queue usually accounts for the single longest period of delay between filing and allowance. Eventually, every application gets assigned to a technology center (TC). A TC represents a group of examiners that specialize in a particular field of art. For example Chemistry, Biology, Electronics, will all…
