S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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11447
I N A S S E M B L Y
June 14, 2010
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Weinstein,
Paulin, John) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to direct the law revision commission to review and assess the
divorce and maintenance laws of the state
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The legislature hereby finds and declares it to be the
policy of the state that it is necessary to achieve equitable outcomes
when families divorce and it is important to ensure that the economic
consequences of a divorce are fairly shared by divorcing couples. Seri-
ous concerns have been raised that the implementation of New York
state's maintenance laws have not resulted in equitable results. Mainte-
nance is often not granted and where it is granted, the results are
inconsistent and unpredictable. This raises serious concerns about the
ability of our current maintenance laws to achieve equitable and fair
outcomes.
The legislature further finds a comprehensive review of the provisions
of our state's maintenance laws should be undertaken. It has been thirty
years since the legislature significantly reformed our state's divorce
laws by enacting equitable distribution of marital property and intro-
duced the concept of maintenance to replace alimony. Concerns that the
implementation of our maintenance laws have not resulted in equitable
results compel the need for a review of these laws.
S 2. The law revision commission is hereby directed to:
(a) review and assess the economic consequences of divorce on the
parties; and
(b) review the maintenance laws of the state, including the way in
which they are administered to determine the impact of these laws on
post marital economic disparities, and the effectiveness of such laws
and their administration in achieving the state's policy goals and
objectives of ensuring that the economic consequences of a divorce are
fairly and equitably shared by the divorcing couple; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD17702-05-0
A. 11447 2
(c) make recommendations to the legislature, including such proposed
revisions of such laws as it determines necessary to achieve these goals
and objectives.
S 3. The law revision commission shall make a final report of its
findings, conclusions and recommendations to the legislature and the
governor not later than nine months after the effective date of this
act.
S 4. This act shall take effect immediately.