Fidelity Executive Gets Favorable Ruling in High-Stakes Alimony FightFidelity Executive Gets Favorable Ruling in High-Stakes Alimony Fight
The court ruled that Derek Young's former wife, Joy, was not entitled to 33 percent of his future income.
September 25, 2017
By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The highest court inMassachusetts on Monday said a senior executive at FidelityInvestments will not have to pay a percentage of his futureincome to his former wife in a closely watched decision thatdealt a setback to variable alimony awards in the state.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor ofDerek Young, president of Fidelity's global asset allocationdivision, whose annual gross income has topped $7 million inrecent years. The court concluded that Young's former wife, Joy,was not entitled to 33 percent of his future income, accordingto an opinion released on Monday.
"Although there might be circumstances where it isreasonable and fair to award a percentage of the supportingspouse's income as general term alimony to the recipient spouse,those circumstances are not present in this case," the highcourt said in its ruling.
The court remanded the case to the probate and family courtin Norfolk County, Massachusetts, where the Youngs had afour-day divorce trial in 2013. The high court ordered the lowercourt to enter a new alimony award in light of its opinion.
"I think she'll do just fine on the remand," said DavidCherny, a Boston attorney representing Joy Young. He said thelower court judge could rule her alimony be 30 percent to 35 ofthe difference between the parties' gross incomes, as allowed bystate law.
"On the downside, if (Derek Young's) future lifestyletriples, she will have the same lifestyle," Cherny said.David Lee, an attorney for Derek Young, called the highcourt's opinion an important clarifying decision because thelower court will have to consider Joy Young's lifestyle beforethe couple separated, not what it might have been had there beenno divorce.
"The parties were living in a lavish, eight-bedroom home,driving luxury vehicles and regularly dining out three to fourtimes a week at expensive restaurants," the high court said inits opinion. The couple also had purchased a summer home inNantucket.
Joy Young's weekly expenses totaled $8,728, or $453,856 peryear, according to an October 2013 financial statement filed inthe case. About a year later, those expenses escalated to about$12,576, or nearly $654,000 a year, according to details in thehigh court's opinion.
Derek Young's gross income at Fidelity increased to $7.76million in 2012 from about $1.53 million in 2008, court recordsshow.(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Dan Grebler)
