The appellant wife appealed a family law arbitrator's award of $250,000 in lump sum spousal support and costs to the respondent husband.
The husband, a high-earning ophthalmologist, had promised upon separation in 2013 to settle his support obligations later, but paid no spousal support for nine years.
The Superior Court found the arbitrator erred in law by failing to apply the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAGs) and by misapplying the criteria for lump sum awards to arbitrarily reduce the retroactive support owed.
The court held the husband was estopped from relying on the wife's delay due to his prior promise.
The appeal was allowed, the spousal support award was increased to $1,893,603, and costs of the arbitration were awarded to the wife.
