Premarital Asset Not Divided– In a case involving a 16 year marriage, the Appeals Court upheld a Probate Court judgment that awarded an equal division of assets but permitted the husband to retain a premarital gift worth $600,000 on the date of their marriage (but not the appreciation of that asset which the court divided 60-40 in favor of the husband.) While noting that there are no “hard and fast rules” regarding premarital assets, the Court found significant the fact that the monies were kept in the husband’s name. The Appeals Court states, however, that it would have been preferable if the court had considered the role of each party in “managing the assets, and whether the assets in question had been kept separate or commingled with the couple’s jointly owned property.” Burr v. Burr, 73 Mass.App.Ct. 1105 (Unpublished) (November 18, 2008).
Attorney Jonathan Fields of Fields and Dennis, Wellesley, Massachusetts is a family law and divorce lawyer serving the Greater Boston region.
