Opinion ID: 2229930
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: analysis

Text: At the outset, we note that, while the method of equitable distribution of marital property is properly a matter within the trial court's discretion, the initial determination of whether a particular asset is marital or separate property is a question of law, subject to plenary review on appeal. The Domestic Relations Law defines marital property as all property acquired by either or both spouses during the marriage and before the execution of a separation agreement or the commencement of a matrimonial action (Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [1] [c]). The statute is sweeping and recognizes that spouses have an equitable claim to things of value arising out of the marital relationship ( O'Brien v O'Brien , 66 N.Y.2d 576, 583 [emphasis added]). Consequently, this Court has held marital property to include a wide range of intangible interests which in other contexts might not be recognized as divisible property at all. In Olivo v Olivo (82 N.Y.2d 202), for example, we held that the wife was entitled to share pro rata in the husband's early retirement pension acceleration, even though it had been awarded to him after their divorce, because the husband's right to the pension had largely been earned during the marriage. The wife was not entitled to share, however, in Social Security bridge payments and a separation payment awarded to the husband contemporaneously with the accelerated pension, because the husband's right to these payments had arisen entirely after the marriage. Similarly, in Burns v Burns (84 N.Y.2d 369), where the question was whether and to what extent the husband's nonvested pension rights constituted marital property, we held that the nonvested pension's value cannot reasonably be deemed to accrue only at the particular point in time when vesting occurs. Rather, the view that the nonvested pension has been earned gradually over a period of time that encompasses the marriage and should be distributed accordingly more appropriately reflects the economic realities ( id. , at 376). This Court applied the presumption in favor of marital property, premised on the contemporary view of marriage as an economic partnership, crediting each party's contributions, whether monetary or not, to the growth and value of the marriage.