Opinion ID: 2794495
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retirement Assets and the House Co-owned by Father and his Aunt

Text: ¶ 23. The trial court awarded father his interest in the house that he co-owns with his aunt. The trial court awarded the TIAA CREF account to mother, but also awarded $17,818 from that account to father “[i]n consideration of the increase in value of [mother’s] TIAA CREF account during the marriage . . . and [father’s] anticipated receipt of the remaining one half interest ($110,000.00) of the property he currently owns with his aunt.” ¶ 24. Because the trial court set off the increase in the value of mother’s TIAA CREF account against the anticipated inheritance of his aunt’s half-interest in the house he co-owns with her, we consider these two aspects of the appeal together. There is little we need to say beyond reaffirming the well-established principle that distributing the marital estate “is not an exact science.” Molleur v. Molleur , 2012 VT 16, ¶ 19, 191 Vt. 202, 44 A.3d 763 (quoting Victor v. Victor , 142 Vt. 126, 130, 453 A.2d 1115, 1117 (1982)). The trial court has “wide discretion” in distributing property and “[s]uch distributions are required only to be equitable.” Hogel v. Hogel , 136 Vt. 195, 197, 388 A.2d 369, 370 (1978) (per curiam). Insofar as “[t]he distribution of property does not always lend itself to a precise mathematical formula,” equitable property distribution does not require a fifty-fifty division of assets or a penny-by-penny accounting. Kinley v. Kinley , 140 Vt. 77, 78, 435 A.2d 698, 699 (1981); see also Sweeney v. Sweeney , 136 Vt. 199, 200, 388 A.2d 388, 389 (1978) (per curiam) (“To require precise division would entail liquidation of the marital assets in every contested case, a result often highly disadvantageous to the parties.”). ¶ 25. In this case, the trial court expressly contemplated the factors set forth in 15 V.S.A. § 751(b) and crafted its property distribution with those factors in mind. The trial court’s conclusions that the marriage was of short duration and that both parties have an opportunity for future income and inheritance of additional assets are relevant to its order awarding the TIAA CREF account to mother and setting off the value of the anticipated inheritance against increases in that account. Furthermore, the parties stipulated not only that the value of the house co-owned by father and his aunt is $220,000, but also that the trial court “shall determine what, if any, weight it shall give this home when determining an equitable allocation of the marital assets.” The court weighed father’s anticipated receipt of his aunt’s interest in the home against the TIAA CREF account’s increase in value and awarded him a sum of money from that account. We do not find any grounds for holding that the trial court abused its discretion or that father has shown that “there is no reasonable basis to support” these aspects of the property distribution. Soutiere v. Soutiere , 163 Vt. 265, 271, 657 A.2d 206, 209 (1995).