New York Court of Appeals, 1985

Wyser-Pratte v. Wyser-Pratte

New York Court of Appeals · Decided October 17, 1985

66 N.Y.2d 715; 487 N.E.2d 901; 496 N.Y.S.2d 991; 1985 N.Y. LEXIS 17276

Cases that cite this one

26 later published cases cite this decision. The 25 that cite it most often are listed here.

Ritchey v. Ritchey (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2011)
Conway v. Conway (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
Mitchell v. Mitchell (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2008)
Rockwell v. Rockwell (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2010)
Tomczyk v. Tomczyk (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2009)
Stern v. Stern (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2007)
Miller McMillen v. Miller (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2005)
Wilson v. Pennington (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2003)
Graham v. Graham (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Wong v. Wong (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2002)
Sass v. Sass (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
Cavallaro v. Cavallaro (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2000)
Severino v. Severino (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1997)
Young v. Young (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1996)
Walker v. Walker (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1996)
Vlamis v. Vlamis (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1996)
Malamut v. Malamut (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
Schnoor v. Schnoor (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1993)
Trainor v. Trainor (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1992)
Grimaldi v. Grimaldi (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1990)
Malyszko v. Malyszko (New York Supreme Court 1990)
Vogel v. Vogel (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1989)
Wagner v. Wagner (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1989)
Torre v. Torre (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1988)
Leuer v. Class (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1988)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed, with costs, and the matter remitted to Supreme Court for a hearing on whether defendant’s alleged inability to be self-supporting is such as to warrant an upward modification of maintenance.

Since defendant was seeking modification of maintenance on the basis of her "inability to be self-supporting” (Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [9] [b]), allegations of change in circumstance were not necessary in order for the court to grant a hearing on whether modification was warranted. As *717long as the party seeking modification on the basis of "inability to be self-supporting” presents allegations sufficient to raise an issue of fact as to whether he or she has been unable to be self-supporting, as defendant did here, the court should refer the matter for a hearing on whether modification is warranted. Accordingly, inasmuch as it cannot be said that defendant’s allegations of inability to find employment over a six-week period were insufficient to justify upward modification of maintenance on "inability to be self-supporting” grounds as a matter of law, a hearing should be held.

Judges Jasen, Meyer, Simons, Kaye, Alexander and Ti-tone concur; Chief Judge Wachtler taking no part.

On review of submissions pursuant to section 500.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals (22 NYCRR 500.4), order reversed, with costs, and matter remitted to Supreme Court, New York County, for a hearing in accordance with the memorandum herein.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.