Openshaw v. Openshaw from the Supreme Judicial Court changes the consideration of marital savings when calculating alimony if it was a practice during the marriage
The issue in Openshaw was whether the Probate and Family Court judge was correct in considering the couple’s practice of saving money during their marriage when formulating an alimony award in the divorce case.
“[W]e conclude that where, as here, a married couple has an established practice of saving during the marriage,” “a judge properly may consider such saving as a component of the couple’s marital lifestyle in awarding alimony.”
- “Marital lifestyle” leading up to divorceand
- The “ability of each party to maintain the marital lifestyle.”
“Because it is the manner in which a couple consistently allocated marital income—not just how they spent it on day-to-day expenses and luxuries—that determines their standard of living during the marriage, nothing in the limitation that the alimony award generally must not exceed the recipient spouse’s “need”
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarifies in Openshaw that “marital lifestyle” and “ability of each party to maintain the marital lifestyle” can include savings if it was customary during the marriage. Thus, it’s not all about spending.
“An equitable distribution of the marital estate ensures that both parties reap the benefits of regular saving during the marriage in the form of the marital assets. However, where, as here, the parties’ post dissolution income is sufficient for each party to continue to live the marital lifestyle, if routine saving is not considered in connection with the determination of alimony, the recipient spouse will be forced to rely on the appreciation of current assets while the payor spouse will be able to continue the full extent of the marital lifestyle, including regular saving.”
