In the case of Connor v. Benedict, the wife filed for divorce in the Middlesex County Probate and Family Court after a marriage of just over two years, although the couple had lived together for much of the preceding twelve years. The court ordered the husband to pay alimony for a period of 5.148 years and divided the marital estate, awarding 55% to the husband and 45% to the wife. The judge also assigned some of the wife’s post-separation liabilities to the husband. The husband appealed, arguing against the alimony duration and the division of assets. He claimed that the wife could not have formed an economic marital partnership with him during a six-year period before their marriage because she was receiving alimony from a former spouse. The Supreme Judicial Court transferred the case and ultimately affirmed the judgment, finding that the judge did not err in considering the six-year period as part of the marriage duration for alimony purposes.