Taking into account “rainy day savings” deemed appropriate when determining the amount of maintenance | Burns & Levinson LLP

There has long been debate about whether alimony payments from one spouse to another should allow the recipient to save for a rainy day. The Massachusetts Supreme Court first considered this issue on March 7, 2024, in Openshaw v. Openshaw. The court ruled that if the parties routinely saved money during the marriage and the parties' combined income post-divorce is sufficient to continue to do so, a judge may take savings into account when determining the appropriate amount of alimony.

In Openshaw the parties had been married for over thirty (30) years. They had six children and enjoyed an upper-middle-class lifestyle during their marriage, which included, among other things, a routine and significant involvement in investments and savings. The parties regularly deposited funds not used to cover the family's expenses into investment and retirement accounts and donated approximately 10% of their income to their church each year. Because of their generous incomes and relatively modest expenses, even with donations to the church, the parties were able to accumulate significant assets, including bank, investment, and retirement accounts.

During the marriage, the husband earned significantly more than the wife. The wife demanded maintenance payments from her husband in the divorce. The wife recorded $1,000 per week in savings and $730.64 per week in charitable contributions on her financial statement at the time of the divorce proceedings. Based on the expenses she reported in her financial statement, the trial court found she had a “need” for support, including the savings and donation components of her reported expenses, and awarded the husband $5,020 per week to the wife to be paid as maintenance. which covered these costs.

The husband appealed. The husband claimed that the judge improperly took into account the parties' habit of saving during their marriage when determining support payments to the wife.

The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's decision that it was appropriate to include a savings component in the amount of maintenance payable by the husband to the wife, arguing that the maintenance law expressly requires a judge to consider the “marital lifestyle” and abilities consider each party's desire to maintain this lifestyle after the divorce to determine support. The court further reasoned that the “marital lifestyle” invariably includes the typical way in which the couple regularly spends or distributes money during the marriage. If the allocations are “so common as to reflect the parties’ financial decision-making during the marriage,” they must be considered part of the marital lifestyle.

The court noted that a judge must take savings into account if using income for savings was common practice during the marriage. A judge must also consider whether the parties have a combined income sufficient to allow both parties to maintain the marital lifestyle, since the alimony law states that the amount of alimony generally depends on the maintenance needs of the receiving spouse and the ability to pay paying spouse may not exceed.

The Openshaw court ruled: “For the way in which a couple consistently divides marital income – and not just the way in which they spend it on everyday expenses and luxuries – determines their standard of living during the marriage, not any of it The restriction that the alimony payment generally cannot exceed the “needs” of the recipient spouse…prevents a judge from taking into account the parties' regular savings practices.” However, this can only be the case if the couple's income is according to the Divorce is sufficient to enable both parties to maintain their marital standard of living. If the couple's post-divorce income is insufficient to allow both parties to maintain the marital lifestyle, it may not be appropriate for a judge to include a savings component in the amount of alimony.

In light of the Openshaw judgment, it would be advisable for parties who have regularly saved money during the marriage to declare “savings” as a weekly expense when completing the financial statement form in their divorce case. This way, after a rainy day, there can be a rainbow and a pot of gold at the end.