Pfannenstiehl v. Pfannenstiehl

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that the husband's interest in a discretionary spendthrift trust was too speculative to be included in the divisible marital estate under G. L. c. 208, § 34. The court vacated the order awarding the wife a percentage of the trust interest and remanded for further proceedings. The trust expectancy could nevertheless be considered when evaluating each spouse's future opportunity to acquire capital assets and income.

Holdings

1. The husband's interest in the discretionary spendthrift trust was too speculative and remote to constitute a fixed and enforceable property right; it was merely an expectancy and therefore could not be assigned to or included in the divisible marital estate.
2. Although the trust expectancy could not itself be included in the marital estate or divided as property, the judge could consider it under the statutory criterion concerning each spouse's opportunity for future acquisition of capital assets and income when determining a revised equitable division of marital property.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the husband's beneficial interest in an irrevocable discretionary spendthrift trust with an ascertainable support standard was sufficiently fixed and enforceable to be included in the divisible marital estate under G. L. c. 208, § 34.
2. If the trust interest was too speculative to be divided as marital property, whether the court could consider the expectancy as an opportunity for future acquisition of capital assets and income in making an equitable division of other marital property.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded