In Bean v. Bean , Karen and David Bean were co-owners of The Bean Agency Inc.
After Karen filed for divorce, David repeatedly failed to appear for court appearances and was eventually deemed in default and wasn't allowed to present evidence at trial.
A day before the hearing, David made a motion to have the valuation date of The Bean Agency's assets changed from the action's commencement to the trial date -- a considerable time lag given David's past conduct.
When the Albany County Supreme Court denied David's request and awarded Karen half of the parties' assets, he appealed to the Appellate Division, Third Department.
Since Karen's expert had valued the assets as of the action's start, the AD3 was of the opinion it would have been prejudicial to require her to undertake a recalculation on such short notice. (The court had twice informed David that a failure to appear in court would prevent him from presenting his own valuation analysis and his dilatory conduct suggested he intended to diminish the value of the assets his spouse would obtain in the divorce.)
Yet, despite his actions, the AD3 still reduced Karen's maintenance to $15k a month ("until her death or remarriage") and the child support to $7,083 a month per child.
While maintenance is based on a spouse's "predivorce standard of living," the AD3 was of the opinion an excessive amount would undercut the award's purpose -- which is to encourage "rehabilitation and self-sufficiency to the extent possible, accounting for a large discrepancy in earning power between the parties." As far as child support was concerned, the AD3 disagreed with the lower court's formula and opted to apply the statutory support percentage to the first $500,000 of parental income.
Try counting them Beans!
For a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Bean v. Bean