Kelcourse v. Kelcourse (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-007-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 13-P-1741 Appeals Court REBECCA KELCOURSE vs. LAWRENCE KELCOURSE. No. 13-P-1741. Essex. October 6, 2014. – January 21, 2015. Present: Graham, Brown, & Sullivan, JJ. Husband and Wife, Antenuptial agreement. Contract, Antenuptial agreement. Divorce and Separation, Division of property. Complaint for divorce filed in the Essex Division of the Probate and Family Court Department on August 20, 2010. The case was heard by Amy L. Blake, J. William M. Driscoll for the husband. Joel Rosen for the wife. BROWN, J. This is an appeal by the husband from an amended judgment of divorce nisi. The central question on the appeal is whether the antenuptial agreement between the parties was enforceable. In addition, the husband claims the judge abused her discretion by awarding the wife $ 400,000 as, essentially, the principal residence substitute. In the circumstances presented here, we are called upon to explore the underlying rationale of the so-called “second look” as specifically explicated in DeMatteo v. DeMatteo, 436 Mass. 18, 37-38 (2002). See Austin v. Austin, 445 Mass. 601, 607 (2005). Upon review of the briefs and record appendix, we discern nothing inconsistent with the so-called “second look” teachings of DeMatteo v. DeMatteo, supra, nor do we think the Probate and Family Court judge abused her discretion or otherwise committed an error of law. 1. Background. The husband and the wife were married on July 6, 1991. At the time of the marriage, the husband was in his forties and owned and operated a business, Larry’s Marina, Inc.; the wife was in her mid-twenties, pregnant with the parties’ second child and a homemaker. Prior to the marriage, the parties lived together for five years in a residence located at the marina. The marina residence contained three bedrooms and was situated on the water. This was the husband’s second marriage and the wife’s first. The husband’s first marriage ended by divorce. In mid-1990, the husband informed the wife that he wanted to execute an antenuptial agreement to protect his existing assets. In the spring of 1991, the husband notified the wife that he no longer wanted to live at the marina; the parties moved to Amesbury and rented a residence there. The husband promised the wife that the rental would be temporary. The parties executed the antenuptial agreement on July […]