Sachs v. Sachs

Plaintiff wife appeals and husband cross-appeals from an order of the Chittenden Family Court construing the parties’ 1984 divorce decree with respect to retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, and attorney’s fees. We affirm the court’s decision entitling plaintiff to share in the appreciation of defendant’s retirement and Social Security benefits, but reverse the court’s method of calculating those benefits and the court’s denial of attorney’s fees.

The parties were divorced in 1984 after twenty-two years of marriage. At the time of the divorce, defendant was fifty-nine years old and…