Hoort v. Hoort

Steven Hoort (husband), the former husband of Nancy Hoort (wife), appeals from a judgment of contempt entered by a judge of the Probate and Family Court. At issue on appeal is the interpretation of language contained in a temporary order that was in effect for a two-year period during the parties’ divorce proceedings requiring the husband to pay the wife “a sum equal to one-third of his year end distribution after taxes.”

Background. The parties were married for thirty-one years, *364although they lived separately during the last two of those years. The husband is a partner in a large law firm;…