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Agreement to Assist Spouse in Obtaining a Visa Did Not Render the Marriage a Sham and the Separation Agreement Unenforceable/Agreement to Pay for One-Half of a Jointly Held Business Could Be Severed from Any Arguably Unenforceable Portions of the Separation Agreement/Even Where a Marriage is Annulled as Void or Voidable, Equitable Distribution Rules Apply

Reversing Supreme Court, the Second Department determined the provision in a separation agreement in which one spouse agreed to help the other obtain a visa did not render the marriage a sham and the separation agreement unenforceable. Therefore the provision of the separation agreement that one spouse pay the other one-half of the value of a jointly-owned business was enforceable. The Second Department noted that even if a portion of the agreement was not enforceable, the valid provisions could remain enforceable. The Second Department further noted that equitable distribution rules apply even when a marriage is annulled as void or voidable:

Although parties are usually free to chart their own contractual course, that is not the case in certain situations where public policy would be offended … . Further, as a general rule, illegal contracts are unenforceable … , and this includes marital agreements for visa sponsorship that unlawfully circumvent United States immigration laws … .

Here, the terms and conditions of the separation agreement ostensibly required the plaintiff to assist the defendant in obtaining a visa. Further, in an affidavit submitted in support of her motion, the plaintiff admitted that she stayed in the marriage longer than she wished so that the defendant could obtain an E-2 dependent visa. However, there is no proof that the marriage was a sham, or that any other tribunal or government agency had made such a determination.

More importantly, even if the Supreme Court was correct in determining that certain terms of the separation agreement are illegal and unenforceable, the terms directing the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for transferring her interest in the business to him would nevertheless be severable and enforceable … . Where an agreement consists of an unlawful objective in part and a lawful objective in part, the court may sever the illegal aspect and enforce the legal one, so long as the “illegal aspects are incidental to the legal aspects and are not the main objective of the agreement” … . Whether a contract is to be enforced in its entirety or is severable is generally a question of intent, “to be determined from the language employed by the parties, viewed in the light of the circumstances surrounding them at the time they contracted” … . Moreover, “[c]ourts will be particularly ready to sever the illegal components and enforce the other components of a contract where the injured party is less culpable and the other party would otherwise be unjustly enriched by using his own misconduct as a shield against otherwise legitimate claims” … . Here, the separation agreement contained an express provision that the doctrine of severability shall apply should any particular term of the agreement be deemed invalid or unenforceable.

Contrary to the Supreme Court’s determination, we do not find that the main objective of the parties’ separation agreement was to compensate the plaintiff for remaining in the marriage and thereby helping the defendant obtain a visa (cf. Donnell v Stogel, 161 AD2d at 97). The separation agreement addressed various aspects of the parties’ marriage, including distribution of their marital assets. According to the plain language of the separation agreement, the $30,000 payment to the plaintiff constitutes compensation for the transfer of her 50% interest in the business that the parties co-owned at the time of the marriage. Notably, the parties agreed that, even if the visa sponsorship did not come to fruition, the defendant would still be obligated to pay the distribution of the value of the business.

It should be noted that, even if the marriage were proven to be a sham marriage, either party could have sought a divorce, a judgment declaring the nullity of a void marriage (see Domestic Relations Law § 140), or an annulment of a voidable marriage (see id.), all of which mandate the equitable distribution of assets acquired during the marriage (see Domestic Relations Law § 236[B][5][a], [c]…). Absent a judicial finding, after a hearing, that the money to be transferred to the plaintiff was payment for spousal sponsorship of a visa and nothing more, which would be against public policy and thus unenforceable in court, the terms of the separation agreement dealing with the distribution of assets acquired during the marriage are enforceable, separate and apart from any unenforceable terms. Thus, the terms of the separation agreement governing the transfer of the previously co-owned business in exchange for $30,000 are severable from any terms of the separation agreement which may be unenforceable … . Lanza v Carbone, 2015 NY Slip Op 05917, 2nd Dept 7-8-15

 

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