Burrell v. Burrell

696 P.2d 157, 1984 Alas. LEXIS 375
CourtAlaska Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 9, 1984
Docket6343, 6737 and 6937
StatusPublished
Cited by52 cases

This text of 696 P.2d 157 (Burrell v. Burrell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alaska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burrell v. Burrell, 696 P.2d 157, 1984 Alas. LEXIS 375 (Ala. 1984).

Opinions

OPINION

Before BURKE, C.J., RABINOWITZ, COMPTON, JJ„ DIMOND, Senior Justice,* and SHORTELL, Judge.**

DIMOND, Senior Justice.

We are concerned here with three appeals that arise from the divorce proceeding of Homer Burrell and Teresa Burrell.1 Homer Burrell sued for divorce from Teresa which was granted on March 18, 1974. Teresa appealed the divorce court’s division of property, contending that the court erred when it failed to include Homer’s one-fourth interest in the Burrell Trust2 in the marital estate. We agreed and remanded the case so that an appropriate award of a portion of Homer’s trust interest would be made to Teresa. Burrell v. Burrell, 537 P.2d 1 (Alaska 1975) [hereinafter cited as Burrell I]. After a second retrial and subsequent judgment entered in June 1979, Teresa was awarded a forty-five percent interest in all payments received by Homer as trust beneficiary after December 29, 1978.

Case No. 68⅛8

I.

The first issue on appeal is whether the superior court has jurisdiction to hear a complaint against Homer as cotrustee of a trust, the corpus of which is located in California. Before the commencement of the second retrial Teresa filed a complaint naming as defendant “Homer L. Burrell, Jr., Personal representative of the Estate of Homer L. Burrell, Sr., and the Estate of Mary Viola Burrell, and cotrustee of the Homer L. Burrell, Sr. — Mary Viola Burrell Trust.” The complaint alleged that Homer Burrell, Jr., as cotrustee of the Burrell Trust and as personal representative of the Burrell estates, owed Teresa fiduciary duties which had been violated to her injury. The complaint sought a money judgment equal to the value of Teresa’s interest in the Burrell Trust.

The parties were notified that the suit would be dismissed for want of prose[160]*160cution. See Civil Rule 41(e). Homer objected and asked for dismissal on the ground that the court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter. The judge found that the complaint stated a cause of action for a personal judgment against Homer Burrell, a matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Alaska Superior Court. The judge therefore declined to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and entered a dismissal for failure to prosecute the action. The court confirmed its ruling on rehearing. Homer appeals.

Homer contends that the Alaska Superi- or Court lacks jurisdiction over the corpus of a trust or estate that has no connection to this state. He argues that the subject matter of this lawsuit is the Burrell Trust and the Burrell estates consisting of land in California and that, since the court allegedly lacks jurisdiction over either the corpus of the trust or the estates, it lacks subject matter jurisdiction in this case.

It is patent that the complaint states a claim for relief against Homer personally. We do not agree that either the Burrell Trust or either of the Burrell estates is the subject matter of the complaint. They would be the subject matter for jurisdictional purposes only if this were an action against the estates or the trust, and the personal representative and the trustees were named in the action solely in their capacities as such.3 The complaint, however, does not allege a debt owed by the estates or by the trust, but by Homer Bur-rell, Jr. Jurisdiction over the trust is not necessary for the action against Homer to proceed. The superior court therefore had subject matter jurisdiction and the only question is whether Homer was properly made a party to the action.

Homer L. Burrell, Jr. is the named defendant. While it would have been better for the caption to recite specifically that Homer was being sued in his individual capacity, reference to his status does not preclude this action from being read as against him individually, given the operative language of the complaint. See Crowe v. DiManno, 225 F.2d 652, 653-54 (1st Cir. 1955). We hold that the superior court had subject matter jurisdiction and did not err by granting a dismissal for want of prosecution.

Case No. 6737

II.

In the second appeal, Homer appeals the superior court order denying his motion for retrospective modification of the divorce decree. The divorce decree provided that Teresa was to receive $800 per month for the next eight years, and $300 per month thereafter. Homer attacks this alimony award on three grounds. First, he contends that there has been a substantial change in circumstances which justifies elimination of his support payments to Teresa under AS 09.55.220.4 Second, Homer argues that the obligation to pay alimony until Teresa dies or remarries constitutes slavery and involuntary servitude, in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; Article I, section 1, of the Alaska Constitution, and 42 U.S.C. § 1994 (1976), which prohibits the holding of any person to service or labor under the system known as peonage. Third, Homer contends that the alimony decree violates equal protection- because [161]*161the obligation to pay alimony ceases when Teresa remarries but not when he remarries. For the reasons discussed below, we conclude first, that it is necessary to remand the case to the superior court for the limited purpose of allowing the court to make further findings of fact, and if warranted, enter an order modifying Homer’s alimony obligation; and second, that the court is without jurisdiction to reach the merits of Homer’s constitutional challenges to his alimony obligation.

A. Modification of the Support Order [3] We first address whether Judge Moody improperly refused to set aside Homer’s alimony obligation. In Curley v. Curley, 588 P.2d 289, 291 (Alaska 1979), we held that “Generally, the rule is that a modification of a [child] support order may be obtained only where there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances occurring subsequent to the original order” and that “[t]he change ordinarily must be more or less permanent rather than temporary.” (Footnotes omitted.) See also Headlough v. Headlough, 639 P.2d 1010, 1012 (Alaska 1982). The same standard applies in the case of a motion to modify an alimony order because, like a child support order, it requires careful consideration of the relevant circumstances of the parties.5 Accord Larson v. Larson, 661 P.2d 626 (Alaska 1983). And, as in other family law areas where discretionary authority is involved, this court will not reverse the trial court absent a showing of an abuse of discretion. Curley v. Curley, 588 P.2d at 291 n. 3. Accord Schoning v. Schoning, 550 P.2d 373, 374 (Alaska 1976) (per curiam).

The appropriate benchmark from which to consider whether there has been a change of circumstances is the last time the issue of alimony and factors relevant to modification were actually considered.

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Bluebook (online)
696 P.2d 157, 1984 Alas. LEXIS 375, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burrell-v-burrell-alaska-1984.