Husband Receives No Part of Wife’s $12,000,000 Inheritance

The Appeals Court upheld a Probate judgment in which the judge did not award husband any part of the wife’s $12,000,000 inherited interest in various trusts.  The decision does not indicate the precise extent of the marital estate but infers that the wife was left with substantially greater assets than the husband.  The parties lived a modest, middle-class lifestyle, not using the inherited assets.  Further, since neither party knew the size of the Wife’s inheritance, the Probate judge assumed that they did not rely on “the eventual receipt of those monies to support their lifestyle.”  Also relevant: the judge found the husband’s contribution to the marital estate limited; that the parties’ maintained separate assets; filed separate tax returns; used their own assets without input from the other.  Merrill v. Johnson, 82 Mass.App.Ct. 1113 (September 19, 2012) (Unpublished).