BILL NUMBER: S4418
SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to estab-
lishing an exception for victims of child sexual abuse to the trust
exemption from application to the satisfaction of a money judgment
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Amends the Civil Practice Laws and Rules to allow victims of child-sex
abuse to execute money judgments against their abuser's retirement
accounts.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph 1 of subdivision (c) of section 5205 of the
civil practice law and rules, which allows victims of sexual abuse to
enforce a money judgment against their abusers' trusts when the judgment
was obtained as a result of such abuse.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Two decades ago, CPLR 5205(c) was amended to excuse IRAs from execution
by judgment creditors to prevent debtors from becoming destitute in
older years. While the merits of this change were noteworthy, an inad-
vertent consequence resulted. Under current law, individuals convicted
of child-sex abuse are able to stow away funds and prevent their victims
from receiving financial restitution.
This legislation would carve an exception to the current statute to
permit child sex-abuse victims that receive judgments as the consequence
of sexual abuse to be allowed to apply them against their abuser's
retirement accounts. This amendment has the potential to act as a deter-
rent to individuals committing heinous acts of child-abuse, while also
allowing victims of such abuse the financial support they need to
restore and move on with their lives.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: S743
2019-2020: S4312 / A2539
2017-2018: A166
2015-2016: A7334
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.