McReath v. McReath

After nearly nineteen years of marriage, Tracy McReath (plaintiff), primarily a homemaker, filed for divorce from Tim McReath (defendant), an orthodontist who had purchased his practice, Orthodontic Specialists, for $930,000, including $830,000 attributable to the prior owner's goodwill and a non-compete agreement. The trial court valued the practice at over $1,000,000, included it as a divisible marital asset, and awarded Tracy roughly $800,000 plus twenty years of spousal support based partly on Tim's expected future earnings; Tim appealed, arguing the court double-counted the goodwill by including it in both the property division and the maintenance calculation.