Equitable reimbursement is a concept that can be used in equitable distribution of marital assets. Equitable reimbursement is a method of compensating a spouse for his or her contribution to the marriage where the marital assets are insufficient to do so.
In Bold v. Bold, 524 Pa. 487, 574 A.2d 552 (1990), our Supreme Court found the doctrine of equitable reimbursement properly was applied where wife supported husband financially, annually contributing more than three times the amount husband contributed, for the first five years of the marriage while husband completed his postgraduate degree. Husband’s attainment of that degree resulted in a substantial increase in his earning capacity. Less than two years after husband graduated with a degree in chiropractics, he asked wife to move out. The Court held that separate and apart from the equitable distribution of marital property, consistent with fairness, the supporting spouse in a case such as this should be awarded equitable reimbursement…. In Bold, there was insufficient marital property to compensate wife for her financial contributions to the marriage. Basically, Bold stands for the proposition that a spouse can get something for their sacrifices during the marriage in support of the other spouse.
Several cases stand for this proposition including, Zullo v. Zullo, 531 Pa. 377, 380, 613 A.2d 544, 545 (1992); Wagoner v. Wagoner, 538 Pa. 265, 271, 648 A.2d 299, 302 (1994) (summarizing, “at dissolution each marriage [i.e., those at issue in Bold and Zullo] possessed insufficient assets to repay the wife’s sacrifice which had added so significantly to the husband’s future financial status. Thus, in addition to equitable distribution, the wife in each case, for her efforts, was awarded payments, termed equitable reimbursement, in order to equalize the result.”); Twilla v. Twilla, 445 Pa. Super. 86, 664 A.2d 1020 (1995) (applying equitable reimbursement principle to compensate wife for lost equity in marital home due to husband’s failure to maintain mortgage payments where there was insufficient marital property from which to fashion sufficient equitable distribution award); Joanne Ross Wilder, Pennsylvania Family Law Prac. & Proc. (West 2005), § 22-13 (2002) (noting “equitable reimbursement may also be available [in the context of professional degrees, licenses and practices] where alimony is not appropriate but where fairness dictates an award of some sort.”). Thus, it is clear that equitable reimbursement is nothing more than a method of compensating a spouse for that which is fairly due to him or her.
Relevant factors in fashioning an equitable distribution or reimbursement award are set forth at 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3502(a). Dalrymple v. Kilishek, 2007 PA Super 83, 920 A.2d 1275, 1280 (Pa. Super. 2007). Those factors are:
(1) The length of the marriage.
(2) Any prior marriage of either party.
(3) The age, health, station, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties.
(4) The contribution by one party to the education, training or increased earning power of the other party.
(5) The opportunity of each party for future acquisitions of capital assets and income.
(6) The sources of income of both parties, including, but not limited to, medical, retirement, insurance or other benefits.
(7) The contribution or dissipation of each party in the acquisition, preservation, depreciation or appreciation of the marital property, including the contribution of a party as homemaker.
(8) The value of the property set apart to each party.
(9) The standard of living of the parties established during the marriage.
(10) The economic circumstances of each party at the time the division of property is to become effective.
(10.1) The Federal, State and local tax ramifications associated with each asset to be divided, distributed or assigned, which ramifications need not be immediate and certain.
(10.2) The expense of sale, transfer or liquidation associated with a particular asset, which expense need not be immediate and certain.
(11) Whether the party will be serving as the custodian of any dependent minor children.
23 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a).