Baldwin v. Baldwin

109 S.W.3d 247, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 1103, 2003 WL 21537918
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 8, 2003
Docket25190
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 109 S.W.3d 247 (Baldwin v. Baldwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baldwin v. Baldwin, 109 S.W.3d 247, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 1103, 2003 WL 21537918 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

JOHN E. PARRISH, Judge.

This is an appeal of the property classification and distribution in a dissolution action brought by Marie Baldwin (wife). *248 Robert L. Baldwin (husband) appeals parts of the classification and award of property and a finding that there was $141,887.70 1 in marital funds due wife. The judgment is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions.

The parties married May 7, 1999. They separated in November 2000. Wife filed the action that is the subject of this appeal April 11, 2001.

Husband asserts five points on appeal. Each is directed to specific provisions of the trial court’s property award. Facts applicable to each point are set out in the parts of the opinion that address the award about which the point complains.

Point I is directed to the trial court’s classification of a 1981 Jaguar automobile as wife’s non-marital property. Husband contends this was error; “that Husband bought the car before the marriage and never titled it in Wife’s name or gave it to her.”

The trial court entered written findings of fact and conclusions of law. They state that wife owned items of personal property prior to the marriage that were her sole and separate property and listed those items. One of the items listed is “1981 Jaguar” valued at $5,000. The dissolution judgment includes the declaration in paragraph B of the decretal part of the judgment:

That the marital and non-marital property ... be determined, divided, set over and allocated in accordance with the [trial] Court’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law which are hereby incorporated herein and made a part hereof as fully as if set out at length herein and [wife’s] Amended Summary of Marital and Non-Marital Property and Liabilities (Petitioner’s Exhibit #38)....

Paragraph B ends with the designation “as follows” with a colon punctuating that paragraph. Nothing follows in paragraph B; however, paragraph E that appears thereafter states, “The Court finds the following as non-marital property of [wife] and is hereby awarded to her.” It is followed by a list of items. One of those items is “1981 Jaguar” followed by an asterisk. This court finds nothing, however, that the asterisk references.

Petitioner’s Exhibit #38 that is referenced in the judgment appears to be an eight-page computer generated form with the word “AMENDED” handwritten above the printed title “PETITIONER’S SUMMARY OF MARITAL AND NON-MARITAL PROPERTY AND LIABILITIES.” A ninth page is attached that includes an unexecuted authentication prepared for signature, before a notary public, by wife. Neither the authentication nor the acknowledgment is signed. What appears to be a photographic copy of the exhibit was filed with this court.

The sixth page of the exhibit has a list of items described and valued with a “disposition” column for designations “W” and “H”. Some of the items are printed on the form. Others are handwritten. At the top of the page, immediately below column headings, appears the letter and words “S NON-MARITAL PROPERTY.” 2 One of the printed items is “1981 Jaguar*.” An asterisk appears in the middle of page six *249 of the form, several spaces below the identification of the Jaguar as follows, “ *Husband gave wife the 1981 Jaguar when he sold Wife’s car.” Hand-drawn lines cross the words and asterisk, “1981 Jaguar,* ” and the words and asterisk, “ *Husband gave wife the 1981 Jaguar when he sold Wife’s car” where they appear further down the page. Printed on the eighth page of the form are:

Prepared by: Christopher S. Warden Date: March 21,2002 Attorney for Petitioner

The trial court findings are ambiguous regarding the basis for its ruling that the Jaguar automobile was non-marital property. The findings of fact state the automobile was owned by wife prior to the marriage and is, therefore, her sole and separate property. See § 452.330.2, RSMo 2000. (“‘[M]arital property’ means all property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage.” [Emphasis added.] ) Petitioner’s Exhibit # 38, however, fists the automobile as non-marital property with the explanation, “Husband gave wife the 1981 Jaguar when he sold Wife’s car.” Although the exhibit appears to have been prepared by wife’s trial attorney, the judgment states that marital and non-marital property is “determined, divided, set over and allocated” according to the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law that are incorporated by reference “and [wife’s] Amended Summary of Marital and Non-Marital Property and Liabilities (Petitioner’s Exhibit # 38).... ”

An appellate court lacks ability to definitively rule on issues that are subject to ambiguities and inconsistencies in the trial court’s judgment. Brick House Cafe & Pub, L.L.C. v. Callahan, 83 S.W.3d 43, 45 (Mo.App.2002). “This court may not speculate as to the grounds on which a trial court bases its ruling.” Kunkel v. Kunkel, 84 S.W.3d 557, 560 (Mo.App.2002). When the part of a dissolution judgment that classifies and distributes property as required by statute is ambiguous with respect to the basis for its determination, it must be reversed and remanded to permit the trial court to clarify its award. Id. at 561. In the event, upon remand, the trial court considers wife’s claim that the automobile in question was a gift, it may wish to consider the decision the Western District of this court reached in Heineman v. Heineman, 768 S.W.2d 130 (Mo.App.1989). Point I is granted insofar as remand is required for the trial court to review and clarify its basis for concluding the property was non-marital property of wife.

Points II and III are directed to an Ameritrade margin account that was found to be marital property and awarded one-half to each party. Point II contends the trial court erred in finding the account was marital property. Point III asserts, in the alternative, that if Point II is denied, the trial court nevertheless erred in valuing the account “in that this account was a margin account, it’s [sic] gross value must be reduced by the $9,309.00 loan against it.”

Husband testified that he established the Ameritrade account in “[fjirst of 98.” When asked if he told his wife about the account, he answered only, “Well, I mean, it never came up in discussions. She watched me make trades and stuff.” The trial court found:

[Husband] has maintained a brokerage account with Ameritrade ... which account is presently valued at Thirty-Eight Thousand Five Hundred Ten Dollars ($38,510.00). [Husband] testified that the Ameritrade Account was opened in 1998, however, aside from his *250 testimony, [husband] failed to produce any documentary evidence as to when the account was opened or what source of funds was used to purchase the account.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 S.W.3d 247, 2003 Mo. App. LEXIS 1103, 2003 WL 21537918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baldwin-v-baldwin-moctapp-2003.