Baccanti v. Morton

752 N.E.2d 718, 434 Mass. 787, 2001 Mass. LEXIS 416
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedAugust 13, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by67 cases

This text of 752 N.E.2d 718 (Baccanti v. Morton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baccanti v. Morton, 752 N.E.2d 718, 434 Mass. 787, 2001 Mass. LEXIS 416 (Mass. 2001).

Opinion

Cowin, J.

The husband, George I. Morton, appeals from a judgment of divorce issued by a Probate and Family Court judge. He claims that the judge (1) failed to consider the" requisite factors under G. L. c. 208, § 34, in dividing the marital estate; (2) abused his discretion in dividing premarital assets; and (3) erred in awarding the wife, Toni Baccanti, one-half of the husband’s unvested employee stock options. We transferred the case to this court on our own motion, and we affirm the judgment of the Probate and Family Court judge.

We recite the facts from the judge’s findings and the uncontradicted evidence that was before him, reserving recitation of certain facts as they become relevant to the issues raised. The husband and wife were married on June 1, 1986. They adopted a boy, Sean, who was bom on July 20, 1983, and began living with them in August, 1988.

After Sean came to live with the parties, they agreed that the wife would work part time so that she could be home with Sean after school. Sean’s behavioral problems required extra attention. At first, the wife worked part time for Data" General. Later, she taught college computer courses and established a computer software consulting business that she ran from her home. The husband is an engineering manager at Analog Devices, Inc., and has been working there since January, 1988.

The judge determined that both parties contributed to the marriage. He found that the husband was the primary financial provider and that, while both parties participated in raising Sean, the wife was the primary caretaker. He also found that the husband and wife shared the household chores, but that the wife was largely responsible for the maintenance and operation of the marital home.

Each spouse had acquired assets prior to the marriage. The husband owned a home, in which the parties lived when they [789]*789first were married. They paid off the mortgage and kept that house, but purchased a new home together. The husband also owned stock that he either purchased or received as a gift before the marriage. The husband and wife each had their own IRA accounts and had money in separate checking and savings accounts. Initially, they contributed money from these separate checking accounts to pay bills, but they later opened a joint account in which they deposited their paychecks and from which they paid expenses. They accumulated other assets during the marriage, including stock and mutual funds. Some of these assets were held in one spouse’s name, while others were held in both names. The husband also had a 401K plan through Analog Devices.

The wife filed a complaint for divorce in June, 1995, in the Worcester Division of the Probate and Family Court Department. Trial began in October, 1998, and the judge granted a judgment of divorce nisi in June, 1999. He granted both parties legal custody of Sean and the wife physical custody. He ordered the husband to pay alimony and child support to the wife. As to the assets, the judge awarded each party approximately an equal amount. The marital home was assigned to the wife, while the home originally purchased by the husband was assigned to him. The parties were awarded their separate checking and savings accounts, as well as their mutual fund and IRA accounts. The joint checking account was divided equally. The wife was awarded a jointly held brokerage account in its entirety. She also was given twenty-five per cent of the value of stock held in a brokerage account in the husband’s name; the husband was awarded the remainder. In addition, the judge assigned each party one-half of the husband’s 40IK account and the vested and unvested stock options that the husband had received from his employer. The husband has appealed from the judgment, challenging certain aspects of the division of the marital estate.

I

The husband argues that the judge failed to make findings as to each of the requisite factors under G. L. c. 208, § 34, in [790]*790dividing the marital property.1 Section 34 provides in relevant part:

“[I]n fixing the nature and value of the property . . . to be so assigned, the court. . . shall consider the length of the marriage, the conduct of the parties during the marriage, the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income. . . . [T]he court shall also consider the present and future needs of the dependent children of the marriage.”

We review the judge’s findings to determine whether he considered all the relevant factors under § 34 and no irrelevant factors. See Williams v. Massa, 431 Mass. 619, 631 (2000); Mahoney v. Mahoney, 425 Mass. 441, 447 (1997); Bowring v. Reid, 399 Mass. 265, 267-268 (1987); Rice v. Rice, 372 Mass. 398, 402-403 (1977). We then determine whether the reasons for his conclusions are “apparent and flow rationally” from his findings and rulings. Williams v. Massa, supra. See Mahoney v. Mahoney, supra.

The husband contends that the judge failed to make specific findings as to certain factors. While the judge’s findings might have been more precise, we are confident that he properly evaluated the relevant factors and weighed the competing considerations. First, the husband claims that the judge did not consider the parties’ premarital assets. We disagree. In reviewing the estate of the parties and the amount and sources of their income, the judge expressly stated that he “considered [the husband’s] contributions from assets he acquired prior to the marriage, including the $36,000 down payment he made on the [home purchased by the husband before the marriage] and the stock which he either purchased or received as gifts.”

In addition, the husband argues that the judge did not credit [791]*791his testimony that the parties orally agreed to “keep the assets that we had accumulated prior to our marriage separate, and ... to add to those assets separately from our salaries or any other . . . sources that we each individually had and that we would just pay our living expenses together.” The judge was not required to credit this testimony. See, e.g., Early v. Early, 413 Mass. 720, 727 (1992). Although the parties did maintain the accounts that they had established prior to the marriage, there is no evidence that they agreed to keep the assets in these accounts separate in the event of divorce. The wife testified that there was no such agreement. Moreover, the husband’s contention is belied by the fact that both parties contributed to paying off the mortgage on the house purchased by the husband before the marriage and by the fact that the parties opened and maintained joint checking and brokerage accounts. This evidence indicates that the fine line dividing premarital and marital assets that the husband suggests does not exist and that the parties intended to do more than pay living expenses together. The judge was warranted in finding that he was “not persuaded by [the husband’s] contention that the parties orally agreed to retain their separate assets in the event of a divorce. The parties never executed a pre-nuptial agreement and they did maintain joint accounts.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
752 N.E.2d 718, 434 Mass. 787, 2001 Mass. LEXIS 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baccanti-v-morton-mass-2001.