Clarenda Love v. Bruce Love

10 N.E.3d 1005, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 650, 2014 WL 1746576, 2014 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 602
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 2014
Docket32A01-1311-DR-504
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 10 N.E.3d 1005 (Clarenda Love v. Bruce Love) 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
Clarenda Love v. Bruce Love, 10 N.E.3d 1005, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 650, 2014 WL 1746576, 2014 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 602 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

*1006 OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Clarenda Love appeals from the trial court’s division of marital property in the dissolution of her marriage to Bruce Love. Clarenda raises two issues which we consolidate and restate as whether the court erred in its division of the marital property. We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The relevant facts, as set forth in this court’s previous June 26, 2013 memorandum decision (the “June 2013 Decision”) related to the parties’ dissolution proceedings, are as follows:

Clarenda and Bruce were married on September 23, 1979. There are two children born of the marriage, both of whom were emancipated before the dissolution of Clarenda and Bruce’s marriage.
After the couple’s first child was born, Clarenda earned money for the family by babysitting and then later by operating a housecleaning business with a friend. When the children were young, Clarenda exercised primary responsibility for taking care of the home and the children while working part-time. During this period, Bruce worked fulltime outside the home. The family’s bills were paid from a joint account.
At some point in the 1990’s, Clarenda started taking prerequisites for pharmacy school. In approximately 2000, Clar-enda entered Purdue University to take core pharmacy classes. During this time, Clarenda also worked for Kroger and cleaned houses. Despite working part time and engaging in co-op programs during school, Clarenda incurred student loan debt valued at $54,646.84 at the time of separation. She graduated from Purdue in 2005, passed the pharmacy boards in August 2007, and then was hired as a full-time pharmacist at Kroger.
Bruce also went to college during the marriage, but he did not graduate. His college tuition was reimbursed by his employer.
Bruce petitioned for dissolution of the marriage on June 22, 2010, and, although the parties continued to reside in the marital residence until Bruce moved out in December of 2011, the separation date is June 22, 2010 (the date the petition for dissolution was filed).
At the time of the final dissolution hearing on June 19, 2012, Clarenda had been employed full-time for five years as a pharmacist for Kroger, and Bruce had been employed as an engineer at SMC Corporation of America (“SMC”) for a number of years. Clarenda had accumulated a retirement account through Kroger with a balance of $21,617.71 on the date of separation, and Bruce had accumulated a retirement account through SMC with a balance of $65,935.37. Clarenda’s annual salary was $106,000 on the date of separation, and Bruce’s annual salary was $52,000.
During the marriage, the parties acquired two residential properties: the marital residence in Avon, Indiana (the “marital residence”) and a rental property in Lafayette, Indiana (the “rental property!”] ),[ 1 ] which they rented to Purdue students. For most of the period that the parties owned the rental property, Bruce was responsible for maintenance and Clarenda was responsible for administrative issues (finding renters, executing leases, collecting rent, etc.). At the time of the separation, Clarenda stopped managing the rental *1007 property, and Bruce took over those duties. When Bruce took over administrative duties, the cash flow from the rental property dwindled.
During the marriage, the parties jointly owned a money market account (“Account 2744”) that, until April 14, 2009, held approximately $27,000. On April 14, 2009, Bruce, in anticipation of filing for dissolution of the marriage, withdrew half the money market balance ($13,500) and moved it to a personal account (“Account 5330”). On or about the date of separation, Account 2744 held $13,821.44.

Love v. Love, No. 32A05-1207-DR-373, slip op. 2-4, 2013 WL 3280015 (Ind.Ct.App. Jun. 26, 2013). On June 27, 2013, the trial court entered an Order of Property and Debt Distribution (the “Original Order”). The June 2013 Decision summarized the trial court’s property distribution set forth in the Original Order as follows:

The trial court awarded the marital residence (with a gross value of $94,555.00) to Clarenda and the rental property (with a gross value of $130,000) to Bruce. The trial court also awarded other assets with a gross value of $69,498.37 to Clarenda and a gross value of $107,890.38 to Bruce. The court further held Clarenda responsible for $71,988.36 in debt (including a mortgage of $6,321.04 and student loans of $56,-686.54[ 2 ]) and Bruce responsible for $47,406.22 (the amount of the mortgage on the rental home). Thus, of the net marital estate worth $282,549.17, the trial court awarded Clarenda 32.6 percent ($92,065.01) and Bruce 67.4 percent ($190,484.16). In support of its “Order of Property and Debt Distribution,” the trial court stated the following in pertinent part:
Both parties are employed. [Bruce] earns $52,000.00 annually and [Claren-da] approximately $106,000. During the course of the marriage, [Claren-da], while being a homemaker and working part-time, completed a pharmacy degree, acquired a license, and is now employed as a pharmacist. However, certain student loans acquired as a result thereof remain unpaid, those being Xpress Loan Servicing [as shown on Exhibit C].
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅝ ⅜ ⅜
The Court specifically finds that the deviation from the presumptive equal distribution ... [is] just and reasonable given the significant difference in present income and future earnings potential of the parties, and the fact that this difference results directly from educational degrees and a professional license acquired wholly within the course of the marriage.

Id. at 4-5.

Clarenda appealed from the Original Order, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in deviating from the statutory presumption of an equal division of marital property and that the court’s findings were insufficient to support its order. Id. at 5. This court issued the June 2013 Decision and noted that the presumption of an equal division of marital property may be rebutted if a party presents relevant evidence regarding the five factors set forth in Ind.Code § 31-15-7-5. Id. at 6. In the June 2013 Decision, this court observed that the trial court’s findings failed to indicate that the trial court considered all of *1008 the relevant factors, 3 that while Clarenda has a higher income she also has been held responsible for payment of significant debt, and that, while Clarenda benefitted from Bruce’s support during the marriage, Bruce reaped the benefits of Clarenda’s home management throughout the marriage and increased income during the years after she passed the boards and before Bruce filed the petition for dissolution. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
10 N.E.3d 1005, 2014 Ind. App. LEXIS 650, 2014 WL 1746576, 2014 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 602, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clarenda-love-v-bruce-love-indctapp-2014.