Brad Barton v. Alexandra Barton

47 N.E.3d 368, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 738, 2015 WL 7983011
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 7, 2015
Docket32A04-1412-DR-550
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 47 N.E.3d 368 (Brad Barton v. Alexandra Barton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brad Barton v. Alexandra Barton, 47 N.E.3d 368, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 738, 2015 WL 7983011 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

CRONE, Judge.

Case Summary

In a consolidated appeal, Brad Barton (“Husband”) ■ appeals the trial court’s decree dissolving his marriage to Alexandra Barton (“Wife”) and the trial court’s subsequent order denying his motion- for relief from judgment on the basis of fraud *372 or misrepresentation. 1 On appeal, Husband contends that each of the appealed orders constitutes an abuse of discretion. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Husband’s motion for relief from judgment and we affirm that order in its entirety. Regarding the dissolution decree, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding incapacity spousal maintenance and attorney’s fees to Wife. However, we conclude that the trial court erred in dividing the marital estate, namely in valuing and dividing Husband’s pension and deferred tax savings plan. Therefore, we affirm in part, -reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History

Husband and Wife were married on April 12, 2005. No children were born of the marriage. Husband filed his petition for dissolution of marriage on September 1, 2011, and Wife filed her counter-petition for dissolution on October 20, 2011, Following numerous continuances and extensions of time, a final dissolution hearing was held on October 2, 2014. The dissolution court entered its decree on October 31, 2014. In addition to dividing the marital property, which primarily included Husband’s pension and deferred tax savings plan, the dissolution court found Wife to be physically incapacitated to the extent that her ability to support herself is materially affected. Accordingly, the court ordered Husband to pay spousal maintenance in the amount of $1500 per month and to secure COBRA coverage for Wife until she becomes eligible for Medicare. 2 The dissolution court also found that Husband caused Wife to incur extraordinary attorney’s fees by his failures to comply with discovery, switching attorneys, and delaying the case. Thus, the court ordered Husband to pay Wife’s attorney’s fees in the amount of $24,364.18.

Husband filed his notice of appeal on December 1, 2014. Shortly thereafter, Husband filed a “Motion to Stay Order on Dissolution Decree” pending appeal. Specifically, Husband requested that the dissolution court stay its order regarding the award of spousal maintenance and attorney’s fees, as well as the drasion of Husband’s pension and deferred tax savings plan.. The dissolution court granted the motion to-stay regarding the division of Husband’s retirement benefits, but denied the motion regarding the award of spousal maintenance and attorney’s fees.

Wife remarried on December 12, 2014. On April 21, 2015, Husband filed his petition for'leave to file an Indiana Trial Rule 60(B) motion for relief from judgment in the dissolution court and requested that we remand his appeal pending that ruling. Our motions panel granted Husband’s petition and remanded the matter to the dissolution court. Husband subsequently filed his Trial Rule 60(B) motion challenging the dissolution court’s award of spousal maintenance and attorney’s fees to Wife. Following a hearing, the trial court issued its findings of fact, conclusions thereon, and order denying Husband’s motion for relief from judgment. Husband then filed his amended notice of appeal, and this Court assumed jurisdiction over a consolidated appeal of both the dissolution decree and the trial court’s order on the motion for relief from judgment. 3

*373 Discussion and Decision

We begin by noting' that Wife did not file an appellee’s brief. When an appellee fails to submit a brief/-we do not undertake the burden of developing appel-lee’s arguments. K.L. v. E.H., 6 N.E.3d 1021, 1029 (Ind.Ct.App.2014). Instead, we apply a less stringent standard of review and may reverse if the appellant establishes prima facie error. Id. “Prima facie error in this context is defined as, at first sight, on first appearance, or on the face of it.” Falatovics v. Falatovics, 15 N.E.3d 108, 110 (Ind.Ct.App.2014) (citation omitted). With this in mind, we will address Husband’s appeal from each order in turn.

Section 1—The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Husband’s motion for relief from judgment regarding the dissolution court’s incapacity spousal maintenance award.

We first address Husband’s appeal from the trial court’s denial of his motion for relief from judgment. Specifically, Husband asserts that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for relief from the dissolution court’s award to Wife of incapacity spousal maintenance on the basis of fraud or misrepresentation. 4 Indiana Trial Rule 60(B) provides in relevant part, “On motion and upon such terms as are just the court may relieve a party ... from a judgment ... for the following reasons: ... (3) fraud (whether heretofore denominated as intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party.” The burden is-on-the moving party to establish the ground for relief under Trial Rule 60(B). In re Paternity of P.S.S., 934 N.E.2d 737, 740 (Ind.2010). While we will discuss the actual merits of the incapacity maintenance award later in our opinion, Trial Rule 60(B) motions address only the procedural/ equitable grounds for justifying' relief from the legal finality of a final judgment, not the. legal merits of the judgment. Id.

We review the trial court’s ruling on a motion for relief from judgment using an abuse of discretion standard. Speedway SuperAmerica, LLC v. Holmes, 885 N.E.2d 1265, 1270 (Ind.2008). An abuse of discretion occurs only when the trial court’s action is clearly erroneous, that is, against the logic and effect of the facts before it and inferences drawn therefrom. P.S.S., 934 N.E.2d at 741. Moreover, where as here, the trial court enters special findings and conclusions pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 52(A), we apply a two-tiered standard of review. Stonger v. Sorrell, 776 N.E.2d 353, 358 (Ind.2002). First we determine if the evidence supports the findings^ and second whether the findings support the judgment. Id. The trial court’s findings and conclusions will be-set aside only if clearly erroneous. Id. We neither reweigh the evidence nor reassess witness credibility. Id. Instead, we must accept the ultimate facts as stated by the trial court if there is evidence to sustain them. Id.

*374

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Bluebook (online)
47 N.E.3d 368, 2015 Ind. App. LEXIS 738, 2015 WL 7983011, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brad-barton-v-alexandra-barton-indctapp-2015.