Many times clients question what will happen if you go to trial, and then if you appeal a decision if you don’t agree with it.  Well, a plaintiff in a recent case in Kings County Brooklyn found out the hard way.  The plaintiff husband had commenced an action for a divorce against his defendant wife, and the court issued a judgment of divorce detailing equitable distribution of their marital property. 

 The plaintiff then appealed portions of the judgment and moved to stay any transfers of the properties or monies pending the outcome of the appeal, so everything was held in abeyance.  The plaintiff, of course was hoping that he would get more.  After the appeal, the appellate division modified the judgment in part, adjusting certain award amounts to both of the parties.

  The plaintiff then moved by order to show cause, directing the defendant to pay the sum owed to him pursuant to the judgment.  Plaintiff also sought post-decision interest under the CPLR 5002, asserting that the defendant held his award, a sum of $2,709,610.44 for 4 years and invested the funds to produce interest that she kept. 

 The defendant wife opposed, arguing that there was no distributive award to be paid under the modification but rather, offsetting payment which were to be made upon the transfers of the properties.  The court denied plaintiff’s motions for interest, finding that the judgment did not make any distributive award in specific monies (sum certain) to plaintiff independent of the transfer of the properties, and that no payments were due during the time the stay was in place. A STAY HE REQUESTED!  The court basically punished the plaintiff for causing the delay in the distribution.

  This was at least a 4-year process before the appeal was perfected, and a decision was rendered regarding the interest.  This was all after a trial, and the plaintiff was without these funds during the entire process. It is something to think about when trying to decide if continuing litigation is really worth it in the end.