Strauss v. Strauss

The sole issue in this appeal from a final divorce order of the Chittenden Family Court is whether defendant Roberta Strauss is entitled to permanent maintenance, rather than time-limited rehabilitative maintenance, from her husband Michael Strauss. We hold that she is so entitled and reverse and remand.

At the time of the divorce in 1991, defendant was forty-eight years old and plaintiff was fifty-one years old. They were married in 1968, and shortly thereafter plaintiff earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. Following a short post-doctoral program in Scotland, they settled in Burlington when plaintiff…