Martinez v. Martinez
Utah Supreme Court
818 P.2d 538 (1991)
- Written by Patrick Busch, JD
Facts
Karen and Jess Martinez married in 1968. At the time, both had high school educations. The Martinezes had three children between 1970 and 1975. Beginning in 1970, Jess completed the requirements for a bachelor’s degree, and then decided to attend medical school. He was in medical school from 1977 until 1981, and financed his education without assistance from his wife. Later, the couple filed for divorce. At issue was how to equitably divide the couple’s property. On appeal, the intermediate appellate court instructed the trial court to devise an award of equitable restitution to Karen in compensation for her intangible contributions to the marriage that helped Jess to obtain his medical degree. The case was then appealed to the state supreme court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stewart, J.)
Dissent (Durham, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 788,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 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.
