Divorce Law and Family Law

A court should not consider capital assets available for liquidation when awarding support and maintenance. The trial court was to consider the feasibility of the party seeking maintenance becoming self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage and the length of time necessary to achieve this goal. [...]

Although an education degree is not marital property, this does not mean that a couple who mutually sacrificed their marital standard of living for one of them to obtain an education must not account for the sacrifices made upon dissolution. [...]

If goodwill is personal to the professional business owner that goodwill is not divisible upon dissolution of the marriage. Before including the goodwill of a self-employed business or professional practice in a marital estate, a court must determine that the goodwill is attributable to the business and not to the owner as an individual. If the goodwill is attributable to the individual, the goodwill is not a divisible asset and is properly considered only as future earning capacity that may affect the relative property division. [...]

Post-dissolution increases in pension benefits are characterized as marital property. We reject the contention that the trial court is precluded from applying different methods in distributing each of the parties’ pensions. [...]

A court faced with difficulty in evaluation of the stock of a close corporation may not order one party to retain the stock and make the other party an equitable owner of half of that stock. The disadvantages of continuing the relationship between the parties outweigh the problems of proof that confront a court in such situations. [...]

For a court to characterize an appreciation in separate property during marriage as marital property, a court need not find that both spouses have expended significant marital funds or labor directly contributing to the increase, or that the non-owning spouse contributed substantial work toward the improvement and maintenance of the separate property.

The characterization of employee stock options as separate or community property depends upon when the stock options were acquired. Stock options become characterized property on vesting. [...]

A judge is not compelled to consider a husband’s contributions to the computer industry in a division of marital assets. The judge was not compelled to consider the husband’s contributions to the computer industry and we conclude that the judge’s findings with regard to contribution to the marital estate were more than adequate.

A court may not adjudicate a personal claim or obligation with regard to a party to a lawsuit without personal jurisdiction over that party. The Nevada court had no personal jurisdiction over Patricia and that court was powerless to cut off her support. [...]

In order to dissolve a marriage under no fault, the court simply must make a determination that for all intents and purposes the marriage is merely a hollow sham beyond any hope of reconciliation or repair. The issue of breakdown calls for a factual determination. The court therefore could properly consider the impact of treatment upon both Mr. Hagerty’s attitude and the existence of serious marital discord. [...]