Opinion ID: 2155826
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Medical Costs

Text: [¶ 18] Determining the marital or nonmarital nature of the medical costs component of the award should be a straightforward process. As with any other asset, the award will be presumed marital unless the spouse urging its nonmarital status demonstrates that a specific amount has been allocated for reasonably certain future medical expenses, and thus, that the award compensates the spouse for anticipated, post-marital expenses. [¶ 19] The record before us is devoid of any specific evidence regarding medical expenses anticipated in the future or even incurred during the marriage. Washburn argues that since Doucette has not proved the presence of marital expenditures, the court was required to find that the medical cost component was nonmarital. Nothing could be clearer, however, than our often repeated admonition that the spouse urging a nonmarital designation has the burden of presenting evidence in support of that conclusion. See Clum v. Graves, 1999 ME 77, ¶ 10, 729 A.2d 900, 904-05. [¶ 20] Washburn failed to meet that burden. The record contains little more than Washburn's bald assertion that no marital funds had been expended on medical care. He presented no specific evidence that he would incur medical expenses after the marriage ended. On this record, the medical costs component would have to be determined to be a marital asset. The court, however, allocated the medical costs using the same ratio as applied to the wage replacement component, resulting in the determination that only approximately 13% of the medical component was marital. Because Washburn received the benefit of the court's calculation, and because Doucette does not challenge the result in light of our affirmance of the judgment, we do not disturb it. [14]