Opinion

O'Brien v. O'Brien

  • 66 N.Y.2d 576
  • 498 N.Y.S.2d 743
  • 489 N.E.2d 712
  • 1985 N.Y. LEXIS 17941
Court
New York Court of Appeals
Filed
Dec 26, 1985
Status
Published
Author
Titone
On the bench
Meyer, Simons, Titone
Cited by
412 cases
Authority
More cited than 27.2%

holding that a professional degree is a marital asset based on a New York statute unlike Utah's

How later courts described this case

  • holding that a professional degree is a marital asset based on a New York statute unlike Utah's
  • concluding that husband’s medical license was a marital asset subject to distribution
  • the statute authorizes courts to consider " 'any other factor which the court shall expressly find to be just and proper,’ ” but this may only be done in egregious cases that shock the conscience of the court, because only then would it be just and proper to take fault into account
  • a medical degree and a license are marital property subject to equitable distribution

Written by the judges who cited it.

Distinguished

  • Distinguished by Cronin v. Cronin, 131 Misc. 2d 879 (1986)

    The plaintiff herein argues that O’Brien is inapplicable to the case at bar since, in this case, she has never pursued a "private” law practice.
    New York Supreme CourtApr 16, 1986Read it

The opinion

Titone, J.

(concurring). I join in the majority opinion by Judge Simons for the court, and, like Justice Jackson, forthrightly surrender my contrary views in Conner v Conner ( 97 AD2d 88, 105 [Titone, J. P., concurring]) to a more cogent position (McGrath v Kristensen, 340 US 162, 178 [Jackson, J., concurring]).

Chief Judge Wachtler and Judges Jasen, Meyer, Kaye, Alexander and Titone concur with Judge Simons; Judges Meyer and Titone concur in separate concurring opinions.

Order modified, with costs to defendant, and case remitted to the Appellate Division, Second Department, for further proceedings in accordance with the opinion herein and, as so modified, affirmed. Question certified answered in the negative.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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