Divorce Support Forums: spousal support for prisoners

Legal tussle: Should killer get alimony?

Thursday, November 22, 2007

By KIBRET MARKOS
STAFF WRITER

A state appeals court on Wednesday refused to automatically bar alimony from spouses who kill a child, in a decision that suspended payments to an Old Tappan woman serving time for the lethal beating of her 14-year-old son.

"Nothing in this opinion prevents the Legislature from amending the alimony statute," the judges wrote. "But we do not read the present statute nor the ... case law to create that automatic disqualification."

The decision was issued in the case of Linda Calbi, who is serving a three-year prison term after pleading guilty to beating her son, Matt, on Aug. 17, 2003, during a violent argument at their home. He died hours later from internal bleeding and cardiac arrest.

"I don't understand how anyone can look my brother in the face and tell him that he has to pay this woman alimony," said Brian Sokoloff, brother of Linda Calbi's ex-husband, Chris. "Half of this opinion espouses sympathy for my brother, and the other half is saying, 'Too bad.' "

Linda Calbi was originally charged with murder, but the charges were later downgraded to aggravated assault, based on expert reports that medical error contributed significantly to the boy's death. She was sentenced last year to three years in prison and won't be eligible for parole until November 2008.

The Calbis were divorced in 2001 after 15 years of marriage. A few months after Matt's death, Chris Calbi fell behind his alimony payments and filed papers in court seeking a reduction or termination of his payment obligations.

"She took the life of her oldest son, scarred her younger son for the rest of his life, and tore the fabric of my soul from me," Chris Calbi wrote in papers filed in Superior Court in Hackensack. "To reward this evil and violent woman by allowing her ... to derive a financial benefit from the family she destroyed ... can only be described as a perversion of our justice system."

A judge ordered him to continue making payments, then later interrupted alimony for the period that Linda Calbi is incarcerated.

But Chris Calbi's arrears had risen to more $40,000 by then, and the judge ordered him to pay $400 a month to his ex-wife's prison account.

Alimony is determined mostly on the basis of economic considerations and rarely involves moral factors. So while a second marriage to a well-to-do spouse is enough to terminate alimony, a criminal conviction isn't, said Ian Hirsch, an attorney who previously represented Linda Calbi.

"Alimony has nothing to do with the criminal act. He is obligated to pay it," Hirsch said. "It's not much of an argument to say that she killed his child and she should be punished for it by losing the payment."

The three-judge appeals panel stuck to those principles Wednesday.

"We cannot mend the hole in Christopher's heart anymore than we can expiate Linda's guilt," the judges wrote. "However, what we can and must do is consider whether the impact of Matthew's death on Christopher resulted in an economic change of circumstances such that his ability to pay alimony was prevented or hindered."

The panel suspended Chris Calbi's payments until a hearing is held in Hackensack to make that determination. The panel also vacated the father's arrears after Matt's death.

The panel also noted that Linda Calbi can apply for alimony after she leaves prison.

Linda Calbi, who represented herself in the appeal, is incarcerated at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton.

Sokoloff, who has acted as a spokesman for Chris Calbi, said his brother will continue his battle.

"The record before the court lays out a consistent and increasing pattern of spousal and child abuse culminating in the death of Chris' son," he said. "The court acknowledges that, and then invites the Legislature to change the law.

"We are going to turn our attention to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and we are going to turn our attention to the Legislature and governor."

E-mail: markos@northjersey.com

--------------------
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. Isaac Asimov

Post Extras