Duckett v. Duckett

In his appeal from a judgment of divorce, the husband does not contest the Probate Court judge’s findings of fact (summarized in the next paragraph). His principal objection is that, in making an equitable distribution of the marital estate under G. L. c. 208, § 34, the judge did not aggregate the respective debts of the marital partners and then allocate them equally. Rather, the judge left each party to settle his or her debts.

The Ducketts entered into marriage in 1972. They had three children, all of whom are in the wife’s custody. The husband has operated his own funeral home out of the…