| Matter of Cheryl D.U. v Ehigie E.U. |
| 2025 NY Slip Op 04043 [240 AD3d 428] |
| July 3, 2025 |
| Appellate Division, First Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| In the Matter of Cheryl D.U.,
Appellant, v Ehigie E.U., Respondent. |
Cheryl D.U., appellant, pro se.
Husband and Wife and Other Domestic Relationships
- Support
- Petitioner Failed to Conclusively Establish Marriage with Respondent
- Objections to Dismissal of Petition for Spousal Support Providently Denied
Order, Family Court, Kings County (Jacqueline D. Williams, J.), entered on or about July 28, 2022, which denied petitioner's objections to an order, same court (Adele A. Harris, S.M.), entered on or about June 27, 2022, dismissing her spousal support petition on the ground she failed to establish that she was legally married to respondent, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
Family Court providently exercised its discretion in denying petitioner's objections to the Support Magistrate's dismissal of her petition (see generally Matter of Michael K. v Pamela D.W., 159 AD3d 594, 594 [1st Dept 2018]). Family Court correctly found that none of the evidence submitted by petitioner conclusively established that she was legally married to respondent (see Family Ct Act § 412).
Contrary to petitioner's contention, the May 12, 2009 order issued in a 2007 matrimonial proceeding does not support her claim that she and respondent are legally married. As petitioner acknowledges, she voluntarily discontinued the 2007 matrimonial proceeding before a final judgment was entered. Because the proceeding was discontinued, "it is as if it had never been"; everything done is annulled and all prior orders in the case are nullified (Matter of Irani v City of New York, 227 AD3d 526, 527 [1st Dept 2024] [internal quotation marks omitted]). Moreover, because the May 12, 2009 order was issued on default, the issue purportedly determined in that order was not "actually litigated" and has no binding or preclusive effect (Kaufman v Eli Lilly & Co., 65 NY2d 449, 456-457 [1985]).
We have considered petitioner's remaining arguments and find them unavailing. Concur—Kern, J.P., Kennedy, Kapnick, Scarpulla, O'Neill Levy, JJ.