Fulginiti v Fulginiti,

___ AD3d ___, 2015 NY Slip Op 03017 [3rd Dept., 2015]

When spreading an oral stipulation on the record, it is important to specify all of the elements, especially when the adversary is pro se. That seems obvious, but the failure to lock down the details proved costly here.

Plaintiff wife and defendant husband claimed and counterclaimed for divorce on grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment. At an appearance before the court, the husband was pro se, and a stipulation was spread upon the record. Although the husband would later attempt to disavow the stipulation in its entirety, there was no getting around the fact that the parties were in court, before the judge and on the record, which is all that CPLR 2104 means when it allows oral stipulations “in open court.”

The real issue was whether or not the husband withdrew his answer in that stipulation. Read More