Steven Green and David Gonzalez, a New York gay couple, married in Massachusetts in February 2005 and signed a separation agreement later that year.

[Steven Green and David Gonzalez] shared Mr. Green’s house in Westchester County and a pied-à-terre on Central Park South, according to the court papers and to Mr. Green, who responded to questions about the case by e-mail. Mr. Green, who said he also owns a home on Nantucket, produces independent films and runs “a small charter airline,” was the wealthier of the two men, and showered his partner with gifts, including a ski house and two cars, according to court papers.

On Valentine’s Day in 2005, the couple were married in Massachusetts, where unlike New York, same-sex marriage is legal. But within a few months, the relationship soured, and Mr. Green’s lawyer drafted a separation agreement, which both parties signed in September 2005, the court papers said.

Under that agreement, Mr. Gonzalez transferred title of his ski house to Mr. Green, and Mr. Green agreed to pay his former partner $780,000, according to court papers.

Mr. Gonzalez filed for divorce in January 2006, at which point Mr. Green claimed their marriage was not valid.

The following January, Mr. Gonzalez filed for divorce in Manhattan, and Mr. Green countersued, claiming that their marriage had never been valid and demanding the return of the $780,000.

Justice Phyllis Gangel-Jacob has now ruled that the marriage is not valid but Green and Gonzalez must honor their separation agreement.

In her decision, Justice Phyllis Gangel-Jacob agreed that the marriage had not been valid, because New York law did not permit gay marriage, and she dismissed Mr. Gonzalez’s claim for divorce.

But Justice Gangel-Jacob found that the separation agreement between the two men was a valid contract. New York courts have long held that contracts between unmarried people living together are as enforceable as those between people who are not living together, she said.

“While cohabitation without marriage does not give rise to the property and financial rights which normally attend the marital relation,” Justice Gangel-Jacob wrote, citing case law, “neither does cohabitation disable the parties from making an agreement within the normal rules of contract law.”

NYT: “Married or Not, Gay Couple Are Ruled Legally Separated”