Hoeflich v. Chemical Bank

OPINION OF THE COURT

Kupferman, J. P.

The parties entered into a separation agreement in 1973, which expressly provided that it would survive their divorce and be forever binding upon the parties and their legal representatives. It required that the husband pay alimony of $125 a week for the rest of the wife’s life or until she remarried.

At common law, the death of either the recipient or the obligor terminated prior court orders for alimony or maintenance as these are personal obligations. (See, Cohen v Cronin, 39 NY2d 42; Wilson v Hinman, 182 NY 408, 410; Freed and Brandes, Law and the…