Shea v. Cameron (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-016-18)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.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 16-P-1479 Appeals Court SUSAN SHEA vs. MICHAEL CAMERON. No. 16-P-1479. Essex. October 4, 2017. – February 9, 2018. Present: Agnes, Sacks, & Lemire, JJ. Practice, Civil, Report, Summary judgment, Stipulation, Fraud. Divorce and Separation, Annulment, Jurisdiction. Probate Court, Divorce. Jurisdiction, Divorce proceedings. Fraud. Emotional Distress. Undue Influence. Unjust Enrichment. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on July 24, 2014. The case was heard by Timothy Q. Feeley, J., on a motion for summary judgment, and the case was reported by him to the Appeals Court. John Taylor for the plaintiff. Mikalen E. Howe (Alan K. Posner also present) for the defendant. LEMIRE, J. This appeal concerns whether a defendant’s alleged fraudulent inducement to marry constitutes a valid civil cause of action. The plaintiff, Susan Shea, and the defendant, Michael Cameron, were married before receiving a judgment of annulment which incorporated their joint stipulation of Cameron’s fraud. Following the annulment, Shea filed a civil action relating to Cameron’s marriage fraud in Superior Court. Cameron filed counterclaims alleging fraud by Shea regarding entry of the stipulation and annulment. Cameron moved for summary judgment on all of Shea’s claims. After granting Cameron’s motion for summary judgment, the judge reported his order to this court pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 64(a), as amended, 423 Mass. 1403 (1996), and stayed Cameron’s counterclaims. We affirm. Background. Shea began a consensual romantic relationship with Cameron in June, 2005. By October, 2005, Cameron had moved into Shea’s home, and soon thereafter, the two became engaged. Shea and Cameron married on September 22, 2007. In 2010, Shea transferred title to her home from herself individually to Shea and Cameron as joint tenants and Cameron was added to the mortgage. Over the course of their relationship, Shea and Cameron exchanged money, shared bank accounts, and worked together professionally. In 2011, Shea discovered that Cameron was having an affair and subsequently filed for divorce on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown. On April 30, 2012, Shea withdrew her complaint for divorce and filed a complaint for annulment. At a deposition related to the annulment proceeding, Cameron admitted to being “unable to love [Shea] very early in the marriage” and that he did not ever believe that Shea was his “one true love.” On June 7, 2013, Shea and […]