## Facts

- Joanne Minieri and Marta Knittel were a same-sex couple who began living together in Minieri’s home in 1996 and separated around September 1999.
- The parties did not register as domestic partners under New York City Administrative Code § 3-241.
- Minieri had substantially greater income and assets than Knittel.
- During the relationship, Minieri purchased and funded multiple assets but placed title in both parties’ names, including:
  - Joint checking and money-market accounts (opened November 1996), funded mostly by Minieri.
  - A joint investment account (opened April 1998) funded with Minieri’s money.
  - A joint securities account created by transfer from Minieri’s Prudential account (February 1999).
  - A Manhattan condominium purchased with Minieri’s funds and credit (July 1997), titled jointly.
  - An East Hampton house purchased with Minieri’s funds and credit (October 1998), titled jointly.
  - A 1999 Ford Explorer purchased with Minieri’s funds (March 1999), titled jointly.
- Minieri claimed an oral understanding that Knittel’s interests were nominal, that Knittel held the assets for Minieri’s benefit, and that Knittel would reconvey them on request; no writing memorialized this understanding.
- Knittel claimed the joint titling reflected an intent to share ownership and that she provided domestic services and property-related work, including curtailing employment.
- After the breakup, Minieri recorded deeds intended to sever or undo joint ownership of the two real properties.

## Issues

1. Whether Minieri was entitled on summary judgment to reformation and a constructive trust over jointly titled assets based on an alleged oral promise and inequity.
2. Whether Minieri’s unilateral deeds could eliminate Knittel’s interests in the real properties or merely sever survivorship rights.
3. Whether Knittel, as a titled co-owner, could pursue partition and an accounting.
4. Whether Knittel’s breach of contract and unjust enrichment counterclaims could proceed despite the parties’ non-marital, intimate relationship and lack of a written agreement.

## Decision

- The court denied Minieri’s motion for summary judgment seeking, in substance, sole ownership through reformation and a broad constructive trust.
- The court held that Minieri’s unilateral deeds could sever the joint tenancies and cut off survivorship rights, but at most converted Knittel’s interests into tenancies in common and did not extinguish them.
- The court declined to resolve, on summary judgment, disputed factual questions about any promise, the parties’ intent in using joint title, and whether equity required imposing a constructive trust.
- The court allowed Knittel’s core counterclaims, including partition and an accounting, to proceed based on her co-ownership interests reflected in title.
- The court treated the dispute under ordinary property, contract, and equitable doctrines, and did not apply marital-style property distribution concepts to the parties’ relationship.

## Legal Principles

- A constructive trust generally requires proof of: (1) a confidential or fiduciary relationship; (2) a promise; (3) a transfer in reliance on the promise; and (4) unjust enrichment; disputed evidence on these elements can preclude summary judgment.
- Joint titling is significant evidence of ownership and intent; a party who funded the purchase cannot, as a matter of law on a contested record, treat the other titled party as merely a nominal holder.
- Recording a deed to sever a joint tenancy may eliminate the right of survivorship but does not unilaterally destroy the other owner’s vested interest; the interest may continue as a tenancy in common.
- Former cohabitants, including same-sex partners, may pursue conventional remedies (e.g., partition, accounting, contract, unjust enrichment) based on title, agreements, and contributions, without importing marital property doctrines absent legislative direction.

## Conclusion

The court refused to award the more affluent partner sole ownership of jointly titled assets on summary judgment through reformation or constructive trust, held that unilateral deeds could sever only survivorship rights while preserving the other partner’s co-ownership interest, and permitted partition, accounting, and related non-marital contract and equity claims to proceed under ordinary doctrines.


Minieri v. Knittel, 188 Misc. 2d 298, 727 N.Y.S.2d 872 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. 2001)