New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

I previously wrote about a lawyer who was attempting to re-open his divorce settlement because, he claimed, there was a mutual mistake - he retained money invested with Madoff  in lieu of other assets retained by his wife.  Of course, the assets invested with Madoff proved to be worthless.   At that time, I opined (and the trial court agreed) that divorce settlement should not be opened.   I wrote: Had the wife participated with Madoff in the fraud or had knowledge of the wrong-doing, the husband might have a case. But, the husband simply made an unfortunate choice and, through no... More

To the list of things Bernard L. Madoff has been blamed for ruining — retirements, lives, reputations — add another: a clean breakup.” The New York Times is reporting that a husband (a lawyer), who, entered into a settlement agreement distributing marital assets, which included an investment in Madoff’s hedge fund, is seeking contribution from his ex wife for the post-divorce losses sustained in the Ponzi scheme. Rather than splitting an investment in the Madoff hedge fund, the husband gave the wife $2.7 million in cash and held onto the account. Of course, the account is now worthless. The husband... More