Should a Professional Degree Be Considered a Marital Asset upon Divorce
![handle is hein.journals/aklr15 and id is 553 raw text is: SHOULD A PROFESSIONAL DEGREE BE CONSIDERED A
MARITAL ASSET UPON DIVORCE?
by
DR. MARVIN M. MOORE*
I. INTRODUCTION
T HAS BEEN a common practice in this country during recent decades for
a wife to put her husband through college and/or professional school.
As one writer notes, '[plutting hubby through' college, law school, medical
school, or other education program ('getting a Ph.T.,' as it is sometimes
called), appears to be a firmly entrenched American institution. . .. I As
several courts have observed, however, the marriages of these upwardly-
mobile young couples often founder and terminate shortly after the husband
has completed his education.' Typically, there are few tangible assets to
be distributed between the parties upon divorce because most of the couple's
income (generated exclusively or principally by the wife) has been expended
for living and educational expenses.' This situation-where a divorce takes
place shortly after the husband obtains a professional or graduate degree-
presents the divorce court with a difficult problem. How can the court divide
the parties' limited assets in a way that will fairly compensate the wife for
having enabled her husband to become a professional person or executive?'
*Professor of Law, The University of Akron School of Law; B.A., 1955, Wayne State
University; J.D., 1957, L.L.M., 1960, J.S.D., 1968, Duke University.
'Erickson, Spousal Support Toward the Realization of Educational Goals: How the Law
Can Ensure Reciprocity, 1978 Wis. L. REv. 947, 948 n.4 (1978).
2See, e.g., Graham v. Graham, 194 Colo. 429, 434, 574 P.2d 75, 78 (1978) (Carrigan, J.,
dissenting) (This case presents the not-unfamiliar pattern of the wife who, willing to
sacrifice for a more secure family financial future, works to educate her husband, only to
be awarded a divorce decree shortly after he is awarded his degree.); Moss v. Moss, 80
Mich. App. 693, 694, 264 N.W.2d 97, 98 (1978) ('This case presents the not uncommon
situation of a wife who, having worked so that her husband could obtain a professional edu-
cation, finds herself left by the roadside before the fruits of that education can be har-
vested.).
8 Thus, the 'educational partnership' marriage is . .. one in which the only [significant]
asset acquired during the marriage is the professional degree. Greene, Dissolution of the
'Educational Partnership' Marriage, 55 FLA. B.J. 292, 293 (1981).
4This question presupposes that the court has the authority to divide the parties' assets
between them upon divorce. The court does have such authority in a majority of states.
Thirty-nine states and Washington D.C. follow the equitable distribution system and confer
authority upon the court to distribute all or some of the property owned by the couple at
the time of the divorce in accordance with guidelines set forth in an applicable state statute.
This group includes Ohio. Freed & Foster, Divorce in the Fifty States: An Overview as of
August 1, 1980, 6 FAM. L. REP. 4043, 4051 (1980). Eight states and Puerto Rico have a
community property system. Under this arrangement, title to all property acquired during
marriage, with limited exceptions, vests in the marital community and is divisible upon
divorce. Comment, Family Law: Ought a Professional Degree be Divisible as Property Upon
Divorce? 22 WM. & MARY L. RLv. 517, 523 (1981). Finally, five states follow the strict
common law rule, under which property division is determined by title alone and the divorce
court has little or no authority to distribute property in accordance with special equities. id.
at 520.
[543]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/aklr15&div=34&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Should a Professional Degree Be Considered a Marital Asset upon Divorce
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most