In re Munson and Beal
New Hampshire Supreme Court
169 N.H. 274, 146 A.3d 153 (2016)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
In 1993 Deborah Munson (plaintiff) and Coralee Beal (defendant) began a 15-year period of cohabitation. In 2008 Munson and Beal entered a civil union. In 2011 Munson and Beal’s civil union became a marriage. In 2012 Munson filed for divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. In determining an equitable division of the couple’s marital property, the trial court considered the 2008 civil union as the beginning of the marriage. The court awarded Beal only 12 percent of the marital estate—an unequal distribution informed by the court’s perception of the marriage as short-term. Beal appealed, arguing that the 15-year cohabitation, which included extensive commingling of financial assets, should have been considered by the court. Beal also noted that the illegality of same-sex marriage made marriage impossible during this period of cohabitation. The New Hampshire Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Hicks, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
