Gershon v. Back

Citations

• 346 Conn. 181

Syllabus

The plaintiff, whose marriage to the defendant previously had been dissolved by a New York court, appealed to the Appellate Court from the judgment of the trial court, which dismissed her motion to open and set aside the final New York judgment of divorce for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Before their marriage, the parties entered into a prenuptial agreement, pursuant to which the plaintiff waived her interest in certain of the defendant's business interests. During the divorce proceedings, the plaintiff challenged the enforceability of the prenuptial agreement, but the New York court rejected the claim, finding no evidence of fraud or overreaching by the defendant. The parties eventually settled their dispute by way of a separation agreement, which superseded the prenup- tial agreement and resolved the parties' respective financial and property rights. The separation agreement also included a choice of law provision, which designated New York law as governing the agreement, and a provision incorporating New York's plenary action rule, which requires a party seeking to modify or vacate a separation agreement that survives a final judgment of divorce to file a plenary action on the contract instead of a motion to open, modify or vacate the divorce judgment. The final judgment of divorce incorporated the separation agreement by reference but provided that the separation agreement would survive and not be merged into the judgment. The parties both later moved to Connecticut, where the plaintiff registered the New York divorce judgment pursuant to statute (§ 46b-71 (a)). Thereafter, the plaintiff moved to open and set aside the divorce judgment in the Superior 182 FEBRUARY, 2023 346 Conn. 181 Gershon v. Back Court, claiming that it was obtained through the defendant's fraudulent conduct. The plaintiff requested that the Connecticut court open the New York divorce judgment and vacate the settlement agreement. Applying New York law, the trial court concluded that,