Court Opinion

ID: 9649457
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 14:54:16.256304+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:55.931138
License: Public Domain

LARSEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I take thee to be my wedded wife; and I do promise and covenant, before God and these witnesses; to be thy loving and faithful husband in plenty and in want; in joy *282and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.
Reciting these vows on July 15,1967, appellant, Arthur J. Hodge, married a reluctant bride, appellee Patricia Hodge. Appellant had only recently begun his medical training when he made his proposal of marriage, and appellee knew from her experience as a clinical instructor in a hospital that divorce is a plague among physicians upon completion of their education. Appellant assured members of his own family and his in-laws that a goal of his medical education was to provide his wife and family with a decent life. Yet, in August of 1977, with the ink still wet on his license to practice medicine in the Commonwealth, appellant left his wife and three children (then aged 11 months, 2, and 8) to begin his lucrative career as a physician to live in the company of a nurse he had met during his residency program in internal medicine. So much for the promise to be a loving and faithful husband in plenty and in want.
No marital assets of any value were accumulated during the couple’s ten years together, as all their income and savings and gifts from both sets of parents were expended on the attainment of appellant’s medical degree. The couple resided at six different locations, including several years at a substantially lowered standard of living in Guadalajara, Mexico, where appellant attended medical school. Appellee dutifully traveled at appellant’s beck and call and worked to support the family while she raised their children.
Appellee, who is unemployed, lives with her children in rental property which is in poor condition; she has problems with the circulation in her legs, and she must undergo two more years of full-time education in her field of medical technology to be employable at a living wage in her community. Appellee lives with his new wife in a home valued at $72,000 in 1982, and is employed in a medical practice which grosses $300,000 a year.
Mr. Justice Zappala correctly observes that “the Divorce Code was adopted with the intent to ‘effectuate economic justice’, 23 P.S. § 102(a)(6).” Maj. op. at 270. The refusal *283of the majority, however, to recognize as a marital asset the increased earning capacity made possible by a medical degree earned during the marriage makes a mockery of justice in this case and is the antithesis of enlightened jurisprudence.
Although I agree with the majority that a professional degree or license is not property, I disagree that the proceeds generated by that degree are not. Certainly, proceeds are inheritable, assignable, salable, transferrable, conveyable, and pledgeable. That the proceeds were not in existence during the time of coverture is not fatal to our designation of them as marital assets subject to equitable distribution, where, as here, both spouses have significantly contributed toward the potential to attain those proceeds.1
Marriage is more than a mere economic partnership, yet, when a marriage fails, it is beneficial for society to subject the marital relationship to a strict economic accounting. In this way, we are best able to “insure a fair and just determination and settlement of [the spouses’] property rights.” 23 P.S. § 102(a)(6). With this principle in mind, we must analyze marriage as a joint economic venture. A spouse lends money without a credit check or loan agreement, secure in the knowledge that repayment will be made. A supporting spouse expects that any contribution made to the student spouse’s education or career potential is an investment in the future — a future in which every family member will benefit. No prudent business partner would expend time, effort and money without the promise of a return on his or her investment. Similarly, a spouse may defer realization of personal career goals or make economic *284contributions and sacrifices in order that his or her “partner” will attain a level of proficiency, evidenced by a degree or license, that will make possible the future rewards to both of the enhanced earnings of one.
The supporting spouse invests in the potential for increase in future earning capacity, much as a business partner would invest in the development of a new idea. When the idea comes into existence, the investing partner owns a piece of it and is entitled to share in whatever profit it generates. The potential to generate profits exists from the moment the idea is created. The owner’s interest in that potential is recognized by the law in many ways. Trade secret law, licensing and franchise agreements extend legal recognition and protection to the intangible asset that exists as a bare potential for future profit.
We must likewise protect the property interest of the spouse who, because of a divorce, will not enjoy the future benefits of his or her contributions (can include sacrifices) in the “company” of the spouse in whose name the degree or license is conferred. The supporting spouse has provided more than financial aid in enhancing the value of this marital property, and I would not limit a property award to the value of the financial contribution. I would therefore reverse Superior Court and remand to the trial court to evaluate appellee’s contribution to her husband’s potential for increased earning capacity and award appellee a like share of the proceeds generated by the degree which was conferred with appellee’s aid. I would further impose a constructive trust upon the proceeds with appellant as trustee. The trust device is entirely necessary, for the trustee may then not, in spite, attempt to reduce the proceeds to the detriment of the other.
I agree with Judge Wickersham, Hodge v. Hodge, 337 Pa.Super. 151, 486 A.2d 951 (1984) (concurring and dissenting), that an intangible asset in the guise of increased earning capacity is a property interest under the Divorce Code and fully subject to equitable distribution.
*285In light of my view to equitably distribute the proceeds of appellant’s medical degree, I would also remand for a new alimony hearing and direct the lower court to apply the relevant law set forth in Mr. Justice Hutchinson’s concurring and dissenting opinion herein.

. The proceeds which will be generated by a professional degree or license are similar in many respects to retirement or pension rights, which, although accumulated during the marriage, are not realized income until some time in the future. Pension rights are recognized as a form of marital property in this jurisdiction. See, e.g., Flynn v. Flynn, 341 Pa.Super. 76, 83, 491 A.2d 156, 160 (1985) where Superior Court cogently observed:
Since a pension benefit is an economic resource acquired with funds that would otherwise have been utilized by the parties during their marriage to purchase other assets, it constitutes marital property.