Opinion
05-31-2016
Claudia CLARKE, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. Arnold CLARKE, Defendant–Appellant.
Callender Law Offices PLLC, Brooklyn (Tracia Callender of counsel), for appellant. Ingrid Gherman, P.C., New York (Ingrid Gherman of counsel), for respondent.
Callender Law Offices PLLC, Brooklyn (Tracia Callender of counsel), for appellant.
Ingrid Gherman, P.C., New York (Ingrid Gherman of counsel), for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Ellen Gesmer, J.), entered on or about November 17, 2014, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, confirmed a special referee's recommendation that defendant husband not be granted a judgment of divorce in his favor on the grounds of abandonment, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Supreme Court properly declined to grant a judgment of divorce in favor of defendant on his counterclaim for abandonment, since he failed to establish that plaintiff's departure from the marital home was unjustified (see Del Galdo v. Del Galdo, 51 A.D.2d 741, 741, 379 N.Y.S.2d 479 [2d Dept.1976] ; see also Heilbut v. Heilbut, 297 A.D.2d 233, 233–234, 746 N.Y.S.2d 294 [1st Dept.2002], lv. dismissed in part and denied in part 99 N.Y.2d 643, 760 N.Y.S.2d 93, 790 N.E.2d 266 [2003] ). Both plaintiff and the parties' adult daughter testified regarding defendant's physical and mental abuse of plaintiff during the course of the parties' marriage.
We have considered defendant's remaining contentions and find them unavailing.
FRIEDMAN, J.P., RENWICK, MOSKOWITZ, RICHTER, KAPNICK, JJ., concur.