ROSALIE SIMON v. ARNOLD SIMON

 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-4913-04T14913-04T1

ROSALIE SIMON,

Plaintiff,

v.

ARNOLD SIMON,

Defendant-Respondent.

______________________________________

 

Argued January 31, 2006 - Decided February 16, 2006

Before Judges Collester and S.L. Reisner.

On appeal from the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Family Part, Bergen County,

M-14956-83.

Robert T. Corcoran argued the cause for third party intervenor/appellant Debra Simon (Mr. Corcoran, of counsel; Brian P. McCann, on the brief).

John J. Trombadore argued the cause for respondent.

PER CURIAM

This is a matrimonial case in which Judge Koblitz granted an application by Arnold Simon to declare the 1985 divorce between Arnold and his first wife, Rosalie Simon, to have been final nunc pro tunc on January 14, 1985, the day it was declared in open court, rather than on May 8, 1985, the day the final divorce judgment was signed.

The essential facts are as follows. Arnold's application was necessitated because, in ongoing divorce proceedings in California, his second wife Debra Simon claimed she and Arnold were not legally married. Their wedding occurred on February 2, 1985, after Arnold and Rosalie's final divorce hearing but before their divorce judgment was signed. Arnold and Debra were married for twenty years and had children who would have been rendered illegitimate if Debra had prevailed.

Debra was permitted to intervene in Arnold's application before Judge Koblitz. In connection with her intervention application, Debra agreed that the court had jurisdiction to assess counsel fees against her, as with any other matrimonial litigant, even if the court were to rule that she lacked standing in the matter. Judge Koblitz subsequently ruled in Arnold's favor, found that Debra's application was filed in bad faith, and assessed $2,000 in counsel fees against her.

Having reviewed the record, we conclude that the arguments Debra has raised on this appeal are without sufficient merit to warrant discussion in a written opinion, R. 2:11-3(e)(1)(E), and we affirm for the reasons stated by Judge Koblitz in her oral opinion placed on the record on May 19, 2005. The record contains ample support for her conclusion that the divorce was declared final in open court on January 14, 1985, and that the May 8, 1985 order simply memorialized the court's earlier jural act. See Mahonchak v. Mahonchak, 189 N.J. Super. 253, 256 (App. Div. 1983); Parker v. Parker, 122 N.J. Super 347, 348 (Ch. Div. 1973), aff'd, 128 N.J. Super. 230 (App. Div. 1974).

 
Affirmed.

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(continued)

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A-4913-04T1

February 16, 2006