Adlakha v. Adlakha
Decision Date | 31 March 2006 |
Docket Number | No. 04-P-1288.,04-P-1288. |
Citation | 844 N.E.2d 700,65 Mass. App. Ct. 860 |
Parties | Vinod K. ADLAKHA v. Purnima S. ADLAKHA (and a companion case<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>). |
Court | Appeals Court of Massachusetts |
Bruce D. Clarkin, Springfield, for Vinod K. Adlakha.
Ellen M. Randle, Springfield, for Purnima S. Adlakha.
Present: GELINAS, KAFKER, & GREEN, JJ.
Vinod K. Adlakha (the husband) and Purnima S. Adlakha (the wife) cross-appeal from a judgment of divorce nisi of the Probate and Family Court, which allocated to the husband forty-three percent of the marital assets and limited duration alimony in the amount of $600 per week for a period of two years. The judgment also required the wife to pay for health insurance for the husband for two years. The husband contends that the judge erred in his division of property, amount of alimony, and two-year limitation on health insurance and alimony.
In addition to countering the husband's arguments, the wife, on her cross appeal, contends that the judge erred in valuing her medical practice as both a marital asset and as income ("double dipping"), in failing to include carry-forward tax losses when evaluating the marital asset base, and in disproportionately allocating certain classes of assets between the parties. She also argues that the husband was not entitled to any alimony.
Background. The parties were married in New Delhi, India, on January 24, 1984. The wife immediately requested a divorce and remained in India; the husband returned to the United States. In the spring of 1985, after reconsidering, the wife came to live with the husband in the United States while she completed studies that would allow her to be certified to practice medicine in the United States.
For much of the first decade of their married life, the parties lived apart: the wife pursued her career as a physician while the husband worked as a nuclear engineer in various locations around the country. Between 1985 and 1995, the parties lived together for a total of approximately three years. They also lived together from 1996 until their separation on February 1, 2002. During their prolonged periods of separation, the parties "developed lifestyles separate and apart from each other," and "were each responsible for maintaining their own residences and kept their finances separate."
The husband graduated from college in India and, in 1977, earned a degree in industrial engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was employed as an engineer at various positions in the nuclear energy industry from 1977 through 1995.2 Upon the termination of his employment at a facility in 1995, the husband determined that as a result of lack of new construction of nuclear facilities, opportunities in nuclear engineering were scarce. He therefore elected not to seek employment in that field.
In 1996, the husband opened a jewelry kiosk business at a mall in Connecticut which failed and was closed in the summer of 1999. From the summer of 1999 until the parties' separation in February, 2002, the husband was unemployed outside the home. He did, however, manage the parties' investment assets, traded mutual funds, and made decisions about buying and selling stock in the accounts. At one point the parties' accounts were valued at $5 million, resulting from market growth, particularly in technology stocks. The parties realized capital gains in 1999 of $947,571 and in 2000 of $283,227. The parties incurred substantial losses when the stock market declined.
In October, 2001, the husband was diagnosed with depression resulting from marital stress and his recent losses in the stock market. At various times since then, he has been treated by mental health professionals and has been on antidepressants. In December, 2001, the husband, after a physical altercation with the wife's son (from an earlier marriage), began to suffer crying spells and panic attacks and was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress along with anxiety and depression. The husband's mental health improved after his relocation to Houston, Texas, where his family (from an earlier marriage) is located. The wife also suffered "a severe adjustment disorder" upon the husband's departure from the marital home. Her symptoms included sleep and appetite difficulties other physical problems, and periods of tearfulness, agitation, and anxiety.
The parties' standard of living evolved throughout the marriage. The judge found that it was "lower middle class" between 1985 and 1988, when the wife was a student and homemaker and the husband worked full-time. It continued as "lower middle class" when the wife went through her medical residency. In 1991, it improved when the wife began her private medical practice. It became "very high" in 1997 and 1998, as her practice developed and they thrived in the stock market.
At the time of trial, the husband (age fifty-four) was working as a salesperson in a tile store in Houston, Texas, where he was paid ten dollars per hour for thirty-six hours of work per week. At that time, the wife (age fifty) had a successful private practice in internal medicine in Holyoke; she was found to have "averaged approximately $266,000 in self-employed income since 1999."3 The parties' major marital assets were the marital home in Longmeadow (fair market value of $490,000 less mortgage of $148,736, or $341,264); bank and retirement accounts (totaling $731,823 for the husband4 and $504,461 for the wife) and the wife's medical practice (fair market value of $260,000).
The case was tried to a master who found that the husband was currently underemployed, that he required alimony and medical insurance coverage to be provided by the wife for a two-year period,5 that "[the wife's] contribution to the marital partnership exceeded that of the [husband] and the greater burden and responsibility fell to her with regard to their real estate and her medical practice" and "[c]onsequently, an equitable but disproportionate division of marital assets is appropriate."
After both parties filed their objections, a Probate and Family Court judge remanded the matter to the master to answer discrete questions. One of the questions was "Whether capital losses incurred from stock investments are a marital asset which should be reallocated and divided between the parties[?]" The master issued supplemental findings and conclusions on remand, answering the foregoing question by noting that the parties had failed to introduce any evidence regarding the potential tax consequences of the capital losses, that he thus need not reach the issue, and that, in any event, the parties' shares of the marital estate were equitable.
The judge entered a judgment of divorce nisi, ordering the wife to pay the husband the "slightly reduced" amount of $600 per week as alimony for two years and to pay for the husband's health insurance coverage for two years. He awarded the husband marital assets of $731,283 and the wife $504,461 plus the marital home as part of a division of property. He also ordered the wife to pay the husband $57,892 within ninety days.
Discussion. Redding v. Redding, 398 Mass. 102, 107-108, 495 N.E.2d 297 (1986). See Heins v. Ledis, 422 Mass. 477, 481, 664 N.E.2d 10 (1996).
1. Property division. The husband first challenges the judge's distribution of the marital estate, arguing that the award of 57.4 percent of the assets to the wife and only 42.6 percent to the husband amounted to an abuse of discretion. We disagree. The "ultimate goal of G.L. c. 208, § 34," is "an equitable, rather than an equal, division of property." Williams v. Massa, 431 Mass. 619, 626, 728 N.E.2d 932 (2000). "To that end, a judge is required to consider the respective contributions of the parties to the marital partnership, and a disparity in contributions may be reflected in the distribution" of the estate. Ibid.
Here, the judge found that the wife "was the principal contributor to the Longmeadow real estate [the family home] and paid [nearly] all the household expenses, including mortgage and maintenance." She also built up her medical practice, a sole proprietorship and substantial asset of the marital estate, "with her own funds [and] by herself, without partners or associates, and without any contribution from the [husband]."6 The husband's primary contribution to the martial estate was through his investing. The master further found that the wife's "contribution to the marital partnership exceeded that of the [husband] and the greater burden and responsibility fell to her with regard to their real estate and her medical practice." "Consequently," the master and judge concluded that "an equitable but disproportionate division of marital assets is appropriate." The wife was awarded the house, her medical practice, and $504,461 in investment and retirement funds, while the husband was awarded $731,283 in investment and retirement funds.
Based on the judge's fact finding and consideration of the G.L. c. 208, § 34, factors, we conclude that there was no abuse of discretion in this proportionate split of the marital estate. The award to the wife of the Longmeadow home and her medical practice reflected her far greater contributions to the building of those two assets, while the award to the husband of a greater amount of investment and retirement accounts reflected his contribution as investor of the family funds. "The parties' respective contributions to the marital partnership remain the touchstone of an equitable division of the marital estate."...
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