KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Divorce customers / NY co engaging FL sub  
January 21, 2023
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Divorce customers
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Ken
            Pertaining to a divorce the husband signed the contract, but the wife has a court order (which has not been sent to us) stating that her husband is to pay for the household bills including the alarm.  The husband has requested to cancel and the wife has told us no. 
            How would we legally go about this? Do we need the court order?  So if the husband wants to cancel services because he is the contract holder, can I cancel the account despite a court order? 
Name withheld
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Response
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            Don’t make the mistake of thinking you are a party to the divorce case; you’re not.  The court has jurisdiction over the husband and the wife, not parties they do business with.  You are also not a utility company that is governed by government issued tariffs that prohibit termination of services without going through prescribed procedures.  Your obligation is to your customer, and your customer is the one who signed your contract.
            The court order requires the husband to pay for household services and might even specifically name the alarm services.  However, the court has no jurisdiction over the alarm company or any other creditor of the parties and cannot [and I am sure won’t] direct a non-party to the action to do anything.  What the court will do, and has in this case apparently, is order the husband to continue paying bills.  If the husband fails to continue paying bills then it’s his problem, not yours.
            If the husband, your customer, terminates your services then it’s the wife who needs to invoke the court’s intervention, not you.  You do have another option which would be to terminate the contract with the husband [easy to do here because the husband told you to terminate] and enter into a direct contract with the wife.  She will then be obligated to you and she can go to court to seek reimbursement from the husband.
            You shouldn’t be in the middle of this matrimonial dispute and you’re not.
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NY co engaging FL sub
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Ken,
            An alarm company from NY is asking us to do a small install for them as a subcontractor in Florida. What kind of paperwork should I use?  Will an all-in-One contract work in this situation?
Edgar 
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Response
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            The proper contract for you is the Subcontractor Agreement [for the subcontractor, not general contractor].  You are permitted to install alarms in Florida because you’re licensed.
            The problem is that the NY alarm company is not permitted to contract to perform any alarm services in Florida, even though it’s subcontracting out the work. 
            You could get yourself in trouble for enabling an unlicensed alarm company to “do work” in Florida, though I don’t know of any cases like that.  I don’t suggest you make a habit of doing work for unlicensed alarm companies. 
            The NY alarm company should get a license in Florida [calling K&K’s License Coordinator Eileen Wagda at 1 516 747 6700 x 312 will get the unlicensed company started].
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Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq
Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC
Attorneys at Law
200 Garden City Plaza
Garden City, NY 11530
516 747 6700 x 301
ken@kirschenbaumesq.com
www.KirschenbaumEsq.com