81 Misc. 2d 616, 366 N.Y.S.2d 977
The parties to this action, plaintiff wife and defendant husband, were married on January 27, 1967.1 At the time of the marriage, the husband was completing his third year of prelaw studies at the University of North Carolina while the wife was a sophomore studying biology at Florida State University.2 The couple agreed that the wife would work full time to support them while the husband finished his undergraduate and law school education.3
The wife worked full time earning a monthly salary of $328 until the day before the birth of their son on August 9, 1967.4 She resumed working part time in January 1968, caring for their child and other children on an exchange basis, typing at home for students including her husband, and later working as a data analyst.5 This arrangement continued until the parties separated in October 1972.6
Following the separation, the wife returned to full-time studies in February 1973, enrolling in a premedical course at Hunter College where she achieved a 3.83 grade point average and an A in organic chemistry, ranking fifth in a class of seventy.7 The husband, meanwhile, graduated from Columbia Law School after selection for its Law Journal, served as a law clerk to a Federal Circuit Judge, and became an associate at a prominent Wall Street law firm with a salary that had increased to $27,500 per year by November 1974.8
After a noncontested hearing, the court awarded the wife a divorce on grounds of abandonment and custody of the parties’ seven-year-old son.9 The parties then contested the issue of temporary alimony to allow the wife to complete her premedical and medical school education.10 During this period both parties had become encumbered with personal obligations resulting from loans taken while they lived together and thereafter for living and educational expenses in addition to loans due their respective parents.11
The wife is skilled in shorthand and typing and could command an annual salary of at least $10,000 as an executive secretary.12 She has indicated she seeks support only until she finishes medical school in five and one-half years and will attempt to work during vacation periods when possible.13
Whether a young mother who is presently a full-time premedical student with exceptional grades should receive alimony to complete her medical school training although she is capable of being self-supporting as a secretary?14
Under section 236 of the Domestic Relations Law, the court may direct the husband to provide suitably for the support of the wife as justice requires. The court considers the ability of the wife to be self-supporting as well as the circumstances of the case and of the respective parties.15 This includes the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable suitable employment.16
Yes. The provisions of section 236 of the Domestic Relations Law direct that the court consider the ability of the wife to be self-supporting as well as the circumstances of the case and of the respective parties. Self-supporting does not imply that the wife shall be compelled to take any position that will be available when her obvious potential in life in terms of self-support will be greatly inhibited.17 The wife worked full time and part time to support the husband through his undergraduate and law school education while she developed skills as a secretary and data analyst.18
After separation she returned to full-time premedical studies at Hunter College achieving a 3.83 grade point average and ranking fifth in organic chemistry.19 Although she could earn at least ten thousand dollars annually as an executive secretary any short-term economic benefit from compelling her to return to such work is far outweighed by the potential benefit of pursuing her education.20 The husband now earns twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars per year after the wife enabled his professional advancement and both parties have incurred loans for living and educational expenses.21 An award of two hundred dollars weekly for alimony and child support is directed while she remains a full-time student for five and one-half years.22 She has agreed to work during vacations.23 This award appropriately balances the financial obligations and provides her an equal opportunity for development and self-fulfillment consistent with the coequal status of married women.24
The wife is entitled to temporary alimony to complete her premedical and medical school training.25