Martin Friedlander, P.C. represented a Wife who has been fighting for her religious divorce (“Get”) since 2012, in a recently decided case before the Honorable Judge Debra Silber. Martin Friedlander, P.C. successfully argued for the Court to apply New York's second “Get Law,” Domestic Relations Law 236(B)[5](h), which can be instrumental even in cases where assets are limited. In this case, for instance, Judge Silber applied the Get Law by laying out a two-tier award for equitable distribution in her 128-page decision.

The Court specified that one tier would apply if the Husband agreed to grant a Get to the Wife within ninety days of the date of the decision, and the other tier would apply if Husband did not grant a Get within the allotted amount of time. The Court determined that continued Get-refusal by the Husband would result in him forfeiting his right to a distributive award, and as such, the second tier grants no distributive award to the Husband.