Stock Options

The Supreme Judicial Court held that, to the extent unvested stock options were granted for future services to be performed after the divorce (such as “remaining with the company or for work to be performed in the future”), such options are subject to property division pursuant to this time-rule formula: “the number of unvested shares of stock options is multiplied by a fraction whose numerator represents the length of time that the employee owned the options prior to dissolution of the marriage (i.e., the length of time that the employee owned the options prior to and during the marriage), and whose denominator represents the time between the date the options were issued and the date on which they are scheduled to vest. The resulting product is the number of shares subject to division.”  The rule, however, is not absolute – in certain circumstances the judge may find that the options should be deemed wholly marital property.  Baccanti v. Morton, 434 Mass. 787 (2001)