Case Name: BARBARA PORTNER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. MORTON PORTNER, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT
Court: New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Decision Date: 1982-04-05
Citations: 186 N.J. Super. 410
Docket Number: 
Parties: BARBARA PORTNER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. MORTON PORTNER, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
Judges: 
Reporter: New Jersey Superior Court Reports
Volume: 186
Pages: 410–422

Head Matter:
BARBARA PORTNER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. MORTON PORTNER, DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT.
Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division
Argued March 2, 1982
Decided April 5, 1982.
Before Judges BOTTER, ANTELL and FURMAN.
Ronald A. Graziano argued the cause for appellant (Tomar, Parks, Seliger, Simonoff & Adourian, attorneys; Lois Seiden Garber on the brief).
Clyde Walker, Jr., argued the cause for respondent (Keyko and Walker, attorneys; Clyde Walker, Jr. on the brief).

Opinion:
The opinion of the court was delivered by
BOTTER, P. J. A. D.
The parties were divorced by judgment dated September 22, 1980. On this appeal plaintiff challenges rulings of the trial judge (1) fixing the terminal date of the marriage for the purpose of identifying property eligible for equitable distribution under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 as having been acquired "during the marriage," and (2) rejecting plaintiff's offer, as a declaration against interest admissible pursuant to Evid.R. 63(10), of an out-of-court statement allegedly made by defendant's brother which pertained to defendant's ownership of a townhouse in Philadelphia, title to which was in defendant's brother's name.
Plaintiff and defendant were married on September 24, 1960 and one child was born to them in 1964. In August 1974 defendant left the marital home in New Jersey and moved to Philadelphia where his business was located. On November 6, 1974 this action was begun by the filing of a complaint for separate maintenance based on a claim of desertion and nonsupport. An order for support pendente lite was entered on February 24, 1975.
On August 26,1975 defendant filed a complaint for divorce in Pennsylvania. That action was ultimately dismissed for lack of prosecution after it became apparent that defendant was unable to prove a cause of action under Pennsylvania law. Later, after moving from Philadelphia to Delaware, defendant filed an action for divorce in Delaware, but relief was "denied" to him in that action also, and he returned to Philadelphia. On December 11,1979 plaintiff amended her complaint in this action to seek a divorce on the ground of separation for 18 months, and defendant counterclaimed for a divorce on the same ground. On these facts the trial judge determined that the marriage was "dead" for all intents and purposes when the parties separated in 1974 and that assets thereafter acquired were ineligible for distribution. The principal significance of this conclusion was that a townhouse in Philadelphia in which defendant resided would not be subject to equitable distribution even if defendant and not his brother was the true owner, since it was acquired in 1977.
The Supreme Court has sought a practical rule for determining the end of a marriage for equitable distribution purposes. The date of the divorce judgment was rejected in Painter v. Painter, 65 N.J. 196, 217-218 (1974), in favor of the date the divorce complaint was filed. However, Smith v. Smith, 72 N.J. 350, 361-362 (1977), held that a separation agreement accompanied by separation of the parties in fact, even without a property settlement, would mark the terminal date of the marriage for these purposes. The same result would apply when the agreement is the basis for a separate maintenance decree. Garisen v. Carlsen, 72 N.J. 363, 370-371 (1977); see Smith v. Smith, supra, and Brandenburg v. Brandenburg, 83 N.J. 198, 205 (1980). Separation of the parties accompanied by the physical division of a substantial portion of their assets, without a formal separation agreement, also fixes the date for determining when the parties are deemed to have gone their separate ways for the purpose of sharing in property acquired thereafter. DiGiacomo v. DiGiacomo, 80 N.J. 155 (1979). However, an oral agreement involving support payments only will not signal the end of the marriage since it is not "a clear expression that both parties no longer consider themselves a partnership.... " Brandenburg v. Brandenburg, supra, 83 N.J. at 209.
Applying these principles to the case at hand we conclude that the filing of a separate maintenance action and the entry of an order for support pendente lite will not be deemed to end the marriage for equitable distribution purposes. These events do not signify acceptance of the separation by both parties but merely reflect a spouse's need for support, as in Brandenburg, supra. Nor was it an unequivocal signal of the termination of the marriage by the party bringing the action, as in the ease where a divorce is sought.
The subsequent filing of an action for divorce by defendant in Pennsylvania signaled his rejection of marital ties and should be taken to mark the end of the marital partnership for the purpose of sharing in after-acquired property. The reasons given in the cases for using the commencement date of a divorce action in this State apply as well to an action for divorce brought in a sister state. Equitable distribution is the division of assets accumulated through the joint efforts of the parties during "the shared enterprise" of marriage. Smith v. Smith, supra, 72 N.J. at 361. Regardless of the date on which the divorce action is commenced, the purpose of equitable distribution is to divide fairly assets acquired when both parties contributed to the marital enterprise, whether by earned income or as a homemaker. Brandenburg v. Brandenburg, supra, 83 N.J. at 210. Thus, using the date when the Pennsylvania divorce action was commenced comports with the object of excluding property acquired after the parties cease to contribute as a team to common marital goals. The fact that defendant was unsuccessful in his Pennsylvania divorce action does not alter this result, since termination of the action was not followed by reconciliation of the parties. What followed, in fact, was defendant's move to Delaware and the prosecution of a new divorce action for a period of time not clearly revealed in the record before us. This was consistent with his earlier attempt to end the marriage.
Thus, we conclude that the date determining the division of assets in this case is August 26,1975. Ordinarily, this would not alter the result reached below since the principal undistributed asset allegedly owned by defendant, the Philadelphia townhouse, was not acquired until 1977. Distribution of that asset was excluded by the trial judge at the end of the trial on the ground that plaintiff failed to carry the burden of proving that defendant had an ownership interest in the property whose title was in the name of defendant's brother.
The Philadelphia townhouse was purchased as a shell for $40,000. It was actually two small buildings made into one residence by breaking down the party wall. After its acquisition it was renovated extensively. Its market value was appraised at $210,000 by plaintiff's expert and at $135,000 by defendant's expert. Defendant claimed it was bought by his brother Max, with whom defendant was engaged in the jewelry business (defendant contended that he sold his interest in that business to his brother in 1976). Defendant also claimed that he rented the house from his brother for $200 a month plus utilities, although the trial judge found that the fair market rental was substantially higher and constituted additional indirect income received by defendant from his "employment" by his brother's corporation. The written lease presented at trial by defendant was contradicted by his earlier answer to interrogatories stating that he rented the property without a lease. In various respects the trial judge found defendant's testimony lacked credibility; however, he concluded that plaintiff did not carry her burden of proof as to defendant's ownership of the townhouse.
The determination of ownership of the building was significant in this case regardless of the date of acquisition, since it could reflect upon the accumulation of substantial assets by defendant despite his claimed relatively low salary, and part of those assets could have been accumulated before the separation of the parties. There was proof that part of the business income came through cash transactions and that a substantial portion of marital expenses had been paid in cash.
Thus, although the Philadelphia townhouse was acquired after the terminal date of the marriage, we consider its ownership relevant to the issue of equitable distribution to the extent that its acquisition and renovation (the cost of the latter was given at $50,000 through hearsay testimony admitted over objection) may reflect assets accumulated by defendant during the marriage. For this reason we cannot disregard additional evidence offered by plaintiff of defendant's equitable interest in the property which was excluded by the trial judge. This evidence was offered through an investigator who spoke with defendant's brother Max. Max purportedly told the investigator that the townhouse actually belonged to defendant, as well as an automobile in Max's name used by defendant, and that they both owned the business although defendant's interest was transferred to Max because of the pending divorce action. The trial judge rejected the evidence as hearsay despite the provisions of Evid.R. 63(10). In doing so he erred.
Evid.R. 63(10) provides:
A statement is admissible if at the time it was made it was so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or proprietary interest or so far subjected him to a civil or criminal liability or so far rendered invalid a claim by him against another or created such a risk of making him an object of hatred, ridicule or social disapproval in the community that a reasonable man in his position would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true, except that such a statement is not admissible against a defendant other than the declarant in a criminal prosecution.
Clearly, a statement by a person who has title to valuable property that the property belongs to someone else must normally be considered "so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or proprietary interest" that he would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true. Exceptions can be found in various circumstances, such as when one disclaims ownership of contraband or property used in the commission of a crime. There, denial of ownership could serve declarant's other interests. However, "acknowledgments that the declarant does not own certain land or personal property" are among the "common instances" of declarations against proprietary or pecuniary interest. McCormick, Evidence (2 ed. Cleary 1972), § 277 at 671. Wigmore states:
A statement predicating of oneself a limited interest instead of a complete title to property asserts a fact decidedly against one's interest, and has always been so regarded. In particular, assertions that one's estate is a leasehold, not a freehold, or that one's possession is merely as agent or as trustee for another, are admissible.... [5 Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn rev.1974), § 1458 at 329]
Although the trial judge considered the statement of brother Max to be against defendant's interest in this litigation, he overlooked the fact that the statement diminished Max's interest in valuable property, and his statement could be used against him if he were to dispute defendant's claim to the property one day. Moreover, though of lesser significance, the information was elicited in connection with a feigned interview for a credit card, and Max would have no interest in diminishing his wealth for that purpose. Statements against one's proprietary or pecuniary interest are "unlikely to be deliberately false or heedlessly incorrect," id. § 1457, and this guarantee of reliability is why they are made an exception to the hearsay rule. Moreover, unavailability of the declarant is not a condition of admissibility. State v. Barry, 86 N.J. 80, 91 (1981); Report of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Evidence, Comment on Rule 63(10) at 169 (1963).
Although plaintiff presented other evidence of defendant's ownership of the townhouse in Philadelphia, we cannot say that the excluded evidence would not have affected the trial judge's conclusion on the issue. Moreover, our comments on the significance of defendant's alleged ownership despite the date of its acquisition may alter the result to be reached in this case.
Accordingly, so much of the divorce judgment adjudicating that the property at 231 Bambridge Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "shall not be subject to equitable distribution following a finding of no ownership by the defendant" is reversed and vacated. The matter is remanded to the Chancery Division for a new trial to determine the extent of defendant's interest, if any, in the Philadelphia townhouse and to redetermine equitable distribution if it is found that defendant has an interest in the property derived from funds acquired "during the marriage" as defined herein.