Equitable Distribution Lawyer NYC

Last Updated on: 11th October 2025, 11:05 am

Equitable Distribution Lawyer NYC

A retirement account with $847,000 divided. Sounds straightforward until you realize the contributions started three years before the marriage and continued two years after separation. Now you’re arguing about coverture fractions, passive appreciation, and whether market gains count as marital property. The QDRO specialist wants another $4,500.

What Equitable Means in New York

New York is an equitable distribution state, not community property. That means the court divides marital assets “fairly” – not necessarily 50/50. Fair depends on factors like marriage length, each spouse’s income, who sacrificed career advancement, who’s getting custody, age, health.

A 22-year marriage where one spouse stayed home with three kids while the other built a medical practice. The court gave the non-working spouse 65% of marital assets. In a four-year marriage between two Wall Street traders, the split went 50/50. The statute lists thirteen factors. Judges weigh them differently.

Marital vs. Separate Property

Separate property stays with whoever owned it: assets acquired before marriage, inheritances, gifts from third parties. Everything else is marital property subject to division.

But separate property becomes marital property through commingling. Someone inherited $200,000, deposited it in a joint checking account, then used that account to pay the mortgage, buy furniture, cover vacations. Three years later, the account balance was $85,000. Good luck tracing what portion remains separate.

Appreciation Gets Complicated

Passive appreciation of separate property stays separate. Active appreciation – increase in value due to either spouse’s efforts – becomes marital property.

A husband owned a rental property before marriage. During the marriage, he renovated units, raised rents, improved occupancy rates. The property value increased from $600,000 to $1.2 million. How much of that $600,000 increase is marital? They hired competing appraisers. The appraisers disagreed. The case settled mid-trial.

Business Valuation Wars

Dividing a business interest means valuing it first. That’s where things get expensive.

A spouse owns 30% of a marketing firm. The partnership agreement says departing partners get book value: $340,000. The other spouse’s expert says fair market value is $1.1 million because the agreement doesn’t reflect true value.

New York courts generally use fair market value, not contractual buyout values. But what’s “fair market value” for a closely-held business with no market? You hire a forensic accountant. They analyze revenue, profit margins, industry multiples. Then the other side hires their own expert who reaches a completely different number.

The Timing Game

Business owners sometimes tank their businesses during divorce. Revenue drops. Expenses spike. Profitability disappears.

In New York, valuation typically occurs at or near trial date, not separation date. That gives the business-owner spouse months or years to manipulate financials. They defer revenue. They pay themselves lower salaries. They hire relatives at inflated wages.

A husband owned a medical practice grossing $900,000 annually. During the divorce, gross revenue dropped to $520,000. He claimed patient volume declined. The wife’s attorney noticed he’d stopped accepting new patients eight months earlier and was blocking off calendar time as “unavailable” three days a week. He settled before trial.

Stock Options and Restricted Stock

Stock options granted during marriage for work performed during marriage are marital property. Options granted during marriage for future services are partly marital, partly separate. The court uses formulas to divide them. The formulas dont always make sense.

An executive received stock options during a ten-year marriage. By judgment date, all had vested and the stock price had doubled. The parties fought about valuation date, vesting schedules, and whether post-separation appreciation was marital property. They spent $65,000 in expert fees arguing about options worth $180,000.

Real Estate Problems

The marital home seems simple until it isn’t. Who gets to stay during litigation? Who pays the mortgage? What if one spouse contributed separate property toward the down payment?

A couple bought a house for $850,000. The wife’s parents gave her $170,000 for the down payment. The gift letter called it a gift to both spouses. Twelve years later, divorce. The wife claimed the $170,000 was a gift to her only. The husband’s attorney pointed to the gift letter. The wife’s parents submitted affidavits saying they intended it as a gift to their daughter only. The court gave the wife a credit for half the down payment – $85,000.

Hidden Assets and Forensic Accounting

Cash businesses are nightmares. A spouse owns a restaurant. The books show $400,000 annual revenue. The restaurant has 80 seats, turns tables twice nightly on weekends, serves 200 lunches weekly. The math doesn’t work. Half the transactions are cash.

Forensic accountants reconstruct income using lifestyle analysis. They calculate household expenses, mortgage payments, tuition, vacations, credit card statements. Then they compare spending to reported income. If someone reports $80,000 income but spends $200,000 annually, the money comes from somewhere.

Offshore Accounts

One spouse moved $600,000 to a Cayman Islands account three months before filing. The spouse claimed it was a business investment. The court imputed the $600,000 as a dissipated marital asset and charged it against his share. He still didn’t bring the money back.

Pension Division Mechanics

Dividing a pension requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. The QDRO goes to the plan administrator. Different plans have different rules and language requirements. Submit the wrong format, it gets rejected. Resubmit. Wait another four months.

A teacher with 28 years in the NYC Teachers’ Retirement System. Sixteen were during the marriage. The non-teacher spouse gets a portion based on the coverture fraction: years married while pension accrued divided by total years. That spouse doesn’t get pension payments until the teacher spouse retires. If the teacher works another fifteen years? The non-teacher spouse waits fifteen years for their share.

What Happens When Discovery Fails

Sometimes you don’t find everything. A spouse hides cryptocurrency. They transfer funds through cash apps that don’t maintain records. They loan money to friends who later “repay” it post-divorce.

One spouse owned bitcoin purchased in 2017. By settlement negotiation, the bitcoin had been transferred out to an exchange in another country. The spouse claimed it was hacked and stolen. No police report. The court included the bitcoin value in the marital estate and adjusted the distribution. The bitcoin itself never got recovered.

Dissipation Claims

Spending marital assets on affairs, gambling, or otherwise wasting money triggers dissipation claims. The innocent spouse gets credit for the wasted funds.

A husband spent $90,000 on a girlfriend during the marriage. Hotel bills, jewelry, trips. The wife’s attorney asked for the $90,000 to be charged to the husband’s share. The judge awarded $60,000. The husband appealed. The appellate division affirmed. The $60,000 credit shifted how other assets got divided.

Temporary Restraining Orders

New York’s automatic orders prevent both spouses from selling, transferring, or wasting marital assets during divorce. The orders take effect when the case is filed. They don’t stop people from violating them.

Someone sold a boat for $75,000 two weeks after being served. He claimed he didn’t read the paperwork carefully and used the money to pay business debts. He produced invoices dated three months earlier. The court sanctioned him $15,000 for violating the order and charged the $75,000 against his share.

Why Cases Settle Before Asset Division

Trials are expensive. A three-day equitable distribution trial costs each side $40,000 to $70,000 in legal fees. Add experts – business valuation, forensic accounting, real estate appraisal – and the total hits six figures.

Most cases settle. Not because everyone agrees, but because fighting costs more than compromising. Settling at 45/55 split might hurt less than paying attorneys to fight for 50/50.

But some cases have to go to trial. High-value estates. Business interests worth millions. Allegations of hidden assets. Those cost what they cost.

Thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group. We’re a second-generation firm managed by Todd Spodek. Our attorneys handle equitable distribution cases involving medical practices, hedge fund interests, and contested pension divisions. We work with forensic accountants and valuation experts when needed. We’re available 24/7 because asset disputes dont wait for business hours.