Boisclair v. Boisclair

2004 VT 43, 852 A.2d 617, 176 Vt. 646, 2004 Vt. LEXIS 111
CourtSupreme Court of Vermont
DecidedMay 12, 2004
DocketNo. 03-211
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2004 VT 43 (Boisclair v. Boisclair) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Vermont primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boisclair v. Boisclair, 2004 VT 43, 852 A.2d 617, 176 Vt. 646, 2004 Vt. LEXIS 111 (Vt. 2004).

Opinion

¶ 1. Husband Daniel Boisclair appeals from the family court’s final divorce order. He argues that the court erred in (1) distributing the marital property, (2) awarding spousal maintenance, and (3) awarding parenLehild contact with the restriction that visits take place in Vermont. We affirm the parent-child contact award, reverse and remand the distribution of the marital property, and remand the spousal maintenance award.

¶ 2. Husband and wife were married in 1994. They have two children, Daniel, who is seven years old, and Lucas, who is two years old. Husband is twenty-eight years old and lives in Watervliet, New York where he is employed as a union painter. Wife is thirty-one years old and provides day care services out of her Vermont home. The parties separated in 2001, and wife initiated divorce proceedings. During the divorce hearing, the parties reached an agreement regarding the distribution of the marital assets and liabilities. They agreed that wife should keep the marital home, valued at $45,000, and she would be solely responsible for paying the $34,000 mortgage as well as a $6,000 medical lien on the property. The court notified the parties that it found this agreement inequitable and would likely reject it. The court provided the [647]*647parties with an opportunity to establish that their agreement was fair.

¶ 3. The court issued its final divorce order in February 2003. It awarded wife the marital home but rejected the parties’ proposed distribution of debts associated with the property. The court ordered wife to bear primary responsibility for the payment of the mortgage, but it did not require her to hold husband harmless should she be unable to maintain payment of the joint debt. The court also ordered husband to pay the $6,000 hen attached to the property, which stemmed from medical treatment that he had received. The court determined that husband should pay wife $500 per month in maintenance for at least eight years. Finally, the court awarded father visitation with the children every weekend and specified that, unless otherwise agreed, the contact would occur in Vermont rather than New York. Wife filed a motion to amend the judgment, asking the court to set a schedule for husband’s repayment of the $6,000 hen, and the court amended its order accordingly. Husband appealed.

¶ 4. Husband first argues that the court erred in rejecting the parties’ agreement regarding the distribution of debts associated with the marital home. We agree. The trial court is authorized to equitably divide and assign marital property, and it may consider various statutory factors in making its decision. Cabot v. Cabot, 166 Vt. 485, 500, 697 A.2d 644, 654 (1997); 15 V.S.A. § 751. The court has broad discretion in considering these factors, and we will uphold its decision unless its discretion was abused, withheld, or exercised on clearly untenable grounds. Semprebon v. Semprebon, 157 Vt. 209, 215, 596 A.2d 361, 364 (1991). Nevertheless, the trial court’s “discretion is narrowed ... where the parties have made an agreement to distribute all or part of their property.” Damone v. Damone, 172 Vt. 504, 511, 782 A.2d 1208, 1214 (2001) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

¶ 5. We have a strong policy favoring voluntary agreements entered into by divorcing parties to settle the disposition of marital property. Bendekgey v. Bendekgey, 154 Vt. 193, 197, 576 A.2d 433, 435 (1990). When distributing the marital property, the “trial court should give great weight to any agreements between the parties.” Lewis v. Lewis, 149 Vt. 19, 22, 538 A.2d 170, 172 (1987). Pretrial agreements are contracts, and as such they are presumed to be fair, formal, and binding. Damone, 172 Vt. at 511, 782 A.2d at 1214. Thus, we have previously held that they can be set aside only for grounds sufficient to set áside a contract: fraud, unconscionable advantage, impossibility of performance, hampering circumstances beyond the expectations of the parties, collusion, or duress. Bendekgey, 154 Vt. at 198, 576 A.2d at 436; Burr v. Burr, 148 Vt. 207, 209, 531 A.2d 915, 917 (1987). Further, the record must demonstrate a compelling reason for the court not to accept the parties’ pretrial agreement. Kanaan v. Kanaan, 163 Vt. 402, 413, 659 A.2d 128, 135 (1995).

¶ 6. Here, the parties informed the court that they had come to a verbal agreement as to the property division. Pursuant to the proposed agreement, wife would get the marital home subject to the outstanding mortgage and husband’s medical lien. After reviewing its terms, the court gave the parties notice that it was having trouble with the equity of the parties’ agreement, stating, ‘We don’t think we are going to accept it.” The court explained that the marital estate had a very low value and the proposed agreement did not appear to take mother’s contribution as a homemaker into account. The court also expressed concern that the parties’ minor children would suffer the consequences of wife’s assumption of the debt. The court allowed the parties the opportunity to present evidence as to why their agree[648]*648ment was fair. The court ultimately rejected the agreement, relying instead on the factors set out in 15 V.S.A. § 751 to divide the marital property. In so doing, the court abused its discretion.

¶ 7. In this case, none of the established grounds to reject a pretrial agreement are present. See Burr, 148 Vt. at 209, 531 A.2d at 917 (trial court may reject pretrial agreement when there is evidence of fraud, unconscionable advantage, impossibility of performance, hampering circumstances beyond the expectations of the parties, collusion, or duress). Both parties entered into the agreement voluntarily, and the fact that both were represented by counsel militates against findings of unconscionable advantage. There is no evidence that the parties were pressured to reach an agreement before trial. Cf. Burr, 148 Vt. at 209, 531 A.2d at 917 (court properly set aside agreement after acknowledging that court had put undue pressure on parties to reach an agreement). The fact that wife would have been entitled to have her contributions as homemaker factored in under § 751 if the court had conducted the property distribution cannot be grounds to reject a private agreement. See Bendekgey, 154 Vt. at 197-98, 576 A.2d at 435-36 (pretrial agreements will not be lightly set aside because they represent “the product of bargaining in which both parties have given up positions, rights or entitlements in order to reach a compromise”). Even if the distribution was not entirely fair to wife, both parties entered into the agreement voluntarily, and the fact that wife might have negotiated a more advantageous bargain is not grounds to set aside an otherwise valid agreement. See Kanaan, 163 Vt. at 413, 659 A.2d at 136. Therefore, we reverse the court’s distribution of the marital property and remand for redistribution consistent with the terms of the pretrial agreement.

¶8. Husband next argues that the court erred in awarding wife maintenance of $500 per month.1

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kara Henry v. Jason Carrara
Supreme Court of Vermont, 2025
Pouech v. Pouech
2006 VT 40 (Supreme Court of Vermont, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2004 VT 43, 852 A.2d 617, 176 Vt. 646, 2004 Vt. LEXIS 111, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boisclair-v-boisclair-vt-2004.