Marriage of McTiernan & Dubrow
Court of Appeals of California
133 Cal. App. 4th 1090 (2005)
Relevant factsFree
John McTiernan (plaintiff), a movie director, married Donna Dubrow (defendant), a production executive, in 1988. During the marriage McTiernan earned about $15 million directing films, far more than Dubrow's roughly $1 million. Using an excess-earnings model that compared McTiernan's income to an average peer's, the trial court valued McTiernan's personal goodwill at $1.5 million and included it as a divisible community asset. McTiernan appealed.
IssueFree
Whether the goodwill a professional generates by conducting business during a marriage is a divisible community-property asset in a marital-dissolution proceeding.