Results
Prenuptial agreement
Successfully negotiated prenuptial agreement sought by other spouse. Added clauses which protected non – monied party by providing defined, stepped distributions to be made to her by monied spouse depending upon length of marriage, and provided for payment of counsel fees in the event of divorce.
Client’s prior counsel unsuccessfully negotiated prenuptial agreement for eight months; after change to Ms. Passonneau, prenuptial agreement was executed within two months, and parties remain married to this day.
Client’s prior counsel unsuccessfully negotiated prenuptial agreement for eight months; after change to Ms. Passonneau, prenuptial agreement was executed within two months, and parties remain married to this day.
Legal separation
Drafted a separation agreement protecting the client’s assets and income and recommend the parties to an experienced relationship counsellor; the parties are working out their difficulties free of any economic anxiety.
Recommended legal separation to couple initially seeking a divorce in order to protect shared rights to employee benefits, including health insurance. Neither party sought to remarry, and remained legally separated for years, enjoying mutual benefits while having the freedom of legal separation.
Recommended legal separation to couple initially seeking a divorce in order to protect shared rights to employee benefits, including health insurance. Neither party sought to remarry, and remained legally separated for years, enjoying mutual benefits while having the freedom of legal separation.
Divorce
How does couple residing in New York, with pending Italian separation proceeding speed up the process? The client, an Italian national resident of New York, was frustrated that the Italian proceedings for a legal separation commenced by his wife, also an Italian national based in New York, had been ongoing for years, and would only result in a legal separation. Because there was no divorce action pending anywhere else, as legal residents of the State of New York, they could divorce in New York State. The client followed her advice and Ms. Passonneau completed the divorce in six months. The parties were pleased with the prompt resolution.
The client came to Ms. Passonneau complaining that her divorce had been taking years. Ms. Passonneau took on the case and the parties completed all required paperwork within two months.
Successfully argued against any award of counsel fees for wife’s trial counsel when counsel had already been awarded fees and had conducted extensive discovery, but not one bit of discovery produced was used at trial.
The client came to Ms. Passonneau complaining that her divorce had been taking years. Ms. Passonneau took on the case and the parties completed all required paperwork within two months.
Successfully argued against any award of counsel fees for wife’s trial counsel when counsel had already been awarded fees and had conducted extensive discovery, but not one bit of discovery produced was used at trial.
Equitable distribution
Successfully argued for distribution of one half of marital estate, whereas a simple title analysis would have rendered client entitled to nothing.
Successfully established that property acquired by husband during marriage should be distributed 50% to wife, husband being title owner notwithstanding, and that wife’s foreign separate property real estate was exactly that, separate property.
Located nearly $1 million USD in hidden assets which were subject to equitable distribution, resulting in prompt settlement of the case favorable to client.
Established that client’s thirteen year divorce, in which she had been represented by other counsel, resulted in inequitable result owing to fraudulent concealment of large cash flow; upon new proceeding to rescind divorce agreement, case settled with a four fold increase in client’s distribution.
Successfully established that property acquired by husband during marriage should be distributed 50% to wife, husband being title owner notwithstanding, and that wife’s foreign separate property real estate was exactly that, separate property.
Located nearly $1 million USD in hidden assets which were subject to equitable distribution, resulting in prompt settlement of the case favorable to client.
Established that client’s thirteen year divorce, in which she had been represented by other counsel, resulted in inequitable result owing to fraudulent concealment of large cash flow; upon new proceeding to rescind divorce agreement, case settled with a four fold increase in client’s distribution.
Spousal support
Obtained sufficient spousal support to permit wife to get back on her feet, despite short duration of marriage, owing both to discrepancy in spousal income and need.
Succeeded in achieving an increase in spousal maintenance on appeal from $2,000 monthly to $3,500 monthly.
Successfully negotiated spousal maintenance to benefit of wife, with stepped decreases over time.
Obtained favorable disposition for wife based upon husband’s history of high earnings and wife’s absence from work force during early years of marriage.
Succeeded in achieving an increase in spousal maintenance on appeal from $2,000 monthly to $3,500 monthly.
Successfully negotiated spousal maintenance to benefit of wife, with stepped decreases over time.
Obtained favorable disposition for wife based upon husband’s history of high earnings and wife’s absence from work force during early years of marriage.
Child custody & parenting plans
Obtained custody for client, and the right to relocate with child to any location within the contiguous United States, owing to creative solution regarding continued contacted between child and other parent.
Obtained order of standard parenting time for father of six month old, where mother objected, but was not breast feeding and where father was just as capable as mother of caring for young child.
A client whose situation met the criteria for an award of sole custody asked the court instead to award joint custody to show the other parent just how much that parent would promote the children’s relationship with the other parent. The court, in an unprecedented decision, awarded joint legal custody to the parties.
Obtained order of standard parenting time for father of six month old, where mother objected, but was not breast feeding and where father was just as capable as mother of caring for young child.
A client whose situation met the criteria for an award of sole custody asked the court instead to award joint custody to show the other parent just how much that parent would promote the children’s relationship with the other parent. The court, in an unprecedented decision, awarded joint legal custody to the parties.
Child support
Successfully argued for child support to be based upon income imputed to the paying parent based upon average income in the payor’s profession based upon statistics provided by the National Bureau of Labor Statistics in that the payor’s claimed income was clearly false.
