Jeffrey Blumstein representing Nan Long
Our client’s husband died. As his widow, she was entitled to a widow’s benefit from the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System. However, the husband’s first wife obtained a Judgment from a trial court imposing a constructive trust on 70% of these statutory benefits in supposed satisfaction of the husband’s obligations to the first wife under a prior divorce judgment. We appealed on behalf of Nan Long to the Appellate Division. The Appellate Division agreed with our contention that these benefits vested solely in our client and could not be transferred as a matter of equity to the first wife no matter how fair or unfair the Court felt their relative financial positions were.
