MARITAL DEBT OR NOT?

Palumbo v Palumbo 2015 NY Slip Op 09481 Decided on December 23, 2015 Appellate Division, Fourth Department:

".....we reject plaintiff's contention that Supreme Court erred in allocating debt incurred from three separate loans all to him rather than to him and defendant, jointly. "A trial court . . . has broad discretion in deciding what is equitable under all of the circumstances" (Mahoney-Buntzman v Buntzman, 12 NY3d 415, 420). Here, the court found that the debts "were not predominantly . . .marital' " (Dietz v Dietz, 203 AD2d 879, 882). The money from the loans was used to further plaintiff's business interests, and defendant was not given any interest in those business interests in the court's equitable distribution of property (cf. Markel v Markel, 197 AD2d 934, 935). We see no reason to disturb the court's determination (see Rivera v Rivera, 126 AD3d 1355, 1356)."