If this were a horror movie it would be titled “The Divorce from Beyond the Grave.”
A Yonkers man tried to keep his matrimonial case going after his estranged wife took her own life — when he discovered she had dumped him as a beneficiary on her retirement account and life-insurance policies two months earlier.
Teacher and naval reservist Aleida Veronica Bordas filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years, fellow teacher David Bordas, in September 2012 citing an “irretrievable breakdown of their relationship,” according to court papers.
Aleida, 38, committed suicide the following April, taking a lethal drug cocktail, according to the Westchester County medical examiner’s office.
But David Bordas discovered that before she killed herself Aleida had cut him out, leaving $500,000 to the couple’s 10- and 13-year-old daughters and, if something happened to the girls, then all of it to her boyfriend.
In January, David filed a motion in the still-pending divorce action, claiming his wife had violated court orders by moving around money that would have been part of a settlement before she killed herself.
“While it is regrettable that Aleida violated the automatic orders and seems to have reached beyond the grave to thwart David’s efforts to recover his share of her assets, this court is unable to remedy the violation in this proceeding,” Westchester state Supreme Court Justice Paul Marx ruled.
David Bordas’ attorney, Andrea Catalina, called the ruling unfair and is considering an appeal.
“Other types of laws hold people responsible for their acts even after they die,” Catalina said, citing drunken drivers and negligent homicide. “Why is this any different?”
But the judge followed a longstanding practice that holds divorce cases end when a party dies.
“Apparently, his appetite for vengeance is pretty unlimited,” said Michael Stutman, head of family law at Mishcon de Reya, noting that the after-death bid for money was very unusual.
But Stutman also noted that if the judge had realized what Aleida did before she died, he could have threatened her with jail and forced her to reverse the transfer.
Aleida, who had done two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq, seemed like the “happiest person in the world” before taking her own life, a fellow vet told Stars and Stripes last year. Reservist Mike Little said Aleida cheerily posted on Facebook about dropping off her daughters at camp the day before she committed suicide.
A court-appointed attorney hired to look after the girls’ interest in their mother’s estate said Aleida was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after her second tour of duty. She was also suffering from depression and taking medication for a sleep disorder.