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THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
___________________________
Merrimack
No. 99-536
IN THE MATTER OF PATRICIA AND WARREN PRESTON
October 3, 2001
Cazden Law Office, of Manchester (Elizabeth Cazden on the brief and orally), for the petitioner.
Orr & Reno, P.A., of Concord (R. James Steiner on the brief and orally), for the respondent.
Dalianis, J. The respondent, Warren Preston (husband), appeals the order of the Superior Court (Perkins, J.) approving the recommendation of the Marital Master (Leonard S. Green, Esq.) awarding the petitioner, Patricia Preston (wife), one-half interest in an annuity issued to the husband in settlement of a personal injury claim. We affirm.
The following facts either were found by the trial court or are not disputed by the parties on appeal. The parties married in 1963 and separated in 1996. In 1988, the husband was injured in an accident. The couple settled with the insurers in 1992 and entered into a structured settlement, which provided for an immediate lump sum payment to the couple and their attorney and payments of $985 per month to the husband for 120 months, beginning in November 2000. The agreement provided that the insurers would purchase an annuity to make the future periodic payments.
The trial court ruled that the annuity was a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. The court then awarded each party one-half interest in the annuity. This appeal followed.
"On appeal, we will affirm the findings and rulings of the marital master unless they are unsupported by the evidence or are legally erroneous." Holliday v. Holliday, 139 N.H. 213, 215 (1994) (quotation omitted). We will set aside a trial court’s property division order only when the appealing party can demonstrate a clear abuse of discretion. See Bursey v. Bursey, 145 N.H. 283, 285 (2000).
The husband argues that the trial court erroneously concluded that the annuity was marital property subject to equitable distribution. We disagree.
RSA 458:16-a, I (Supp. 2000) provides that property subject to equitable distribution includes all property "belonging to either or both parties, whether title to the property is held in the name of either or both parties." New Hampshire is thus one of a number of "equitable distribution" states that permit the distribution of all of the property of divorcing parties "without regard to title, or to when or how acquired." 3 A. Rutkin, Family Law and Practice