Dick v. Dick

414 N.W.2d 288, 1987 N.D. LEXIS 422
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 20, 1987
DocketCiv. 11402
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 414 N.W.2d 288 (Dick v. Dick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dick v. Dick, 414 N.W.2d 288, 1987 N.D. LEXIS 422 (N.D. 1987).

Opinions

MESCHKE, Justice.

Maxine K. Dick appeals from support and property awarded to her in a judgment of divorce from Keith Dick. We affirm.

Keith and Maxine were married in 1969. There were no children.

At the time of their marriage, Keith, who has a high school education and one year of college, was employed as an automobile and farm equipment salesman and was engaged in a cow-calf operation. Keith began farming full-time in 1977. While farming, Keith was also a sales representative for Pioneer seed.

During the early years of the marriage, Maxine, who has a high school education, was employed outside the home as a clerical worker and as a clerk in a store. She was not employed outside the home during the last few years of the marriage until she started working as a clerk in a Fargo store after separation from Keith.

[290]*290The judgment: (1) awards Keith assets, including property brought into the marriage or received by gift, valued at $638,-100; (2) orders Keith to assume debts of $308,783.03; (3) awards Maxine assets valued at $13,483.50; (4) orders Maxine to assume debts of $14,341.56; (5) gives Keith “credit for property that he either brought into the marriage or received by gift during the marriage in the amount of $153,-035”; (6) orders Keith to pay Maxine $85,-165 on or before January 1, 1987, “to compensate for the differences in assets received and liabilities assumed by the parties”; and (7) provides that neither spouse shall receive alimony, but orders Keith to pay Maxine support of $1,000 per month for the last four months of 1986.

On appeal, Maxine asserts that the trial court erred in awarding spousal support for only four months, erred in valuing certain items of marital property, and erred in distributing the marital property.

We apply a limited scope of review to many of the issues raised in appeals from divorce judgments. The determination of the value of marital property is treated as a finding of fact. Christensen v. Christensen, 397 N.W.2d 456 (N.D.1986). A trial court’s determinations on spousal support and property division are findings of fact, which will not be set aside on appeal unless clearly erroneous. Branson v. Branson, 411 N.W.2d 395 (N.D.1987). Findings of fact are presumptively correct. Alumni Ass’n of Univ. v. Hart Agency, Inc., 283 N.W.2d 119 (N.D.1979). The complaining party bears the burden of demonstrating that findings are erroneous, and a finding is clearly erroneous only when the reviewing court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Byron v. Gerring Industries, Inc., 328 N.W.2d 819 (N.D.1982). Simply because we might have viewed the evidence differently does not entitle us to reverse the trial court. Jochim v. Jochim, 306 N.W.2d 196 (N.D.1981). A choice between two permissible views of the weight of the evidence is not clearly erroneous. Owan v. Kindel, 347 N.W.2d 577 (N.D.1984).

1. Spousal Support

Maxine asserts that the trial court erred in limiting spousal support to four months. In May of 1985, by stipulation, Keith agreed to pay Maxine $1,000 per month as spousal support during the pend-ency of the action. The trial court continued the payments for four months after the divorce, until the time when Keith was to pay Maxine $85,165 for property division.

Keith and Maxine are nearly the same age with equivalent educations; they have no children; both “are able-bodied and in good health; [and] both are capable of providing income for themselves,” as the trial court found. Maxine was employed outside the home during much of the marriage. Contrary to Maxine’s assertion that “Keith was awarded all of the income-producing property of the parties,” Maxine was awarded cash of $85,165, which is a substantial income-producing asset.

While continuation of a spouse’s standard of living may be considered in determining whether or not spousal support is appropriate [Bagan v. Bagan, 382 N.W.2d 645 (N.D.1986) ], “in many cases, when the property is divided between the parties, it is not sufficient to maintain each of the parties at the same standard of living after the dissolution of the marriage as each enjoyed during the marriage.” Weir v. Weir, 374 N.W.2d 858, 864 (N.D.1985). Maxine has not demonstrated to us that she was substantially disadvantaged by the divorce and needs support for rehabilitation. Although Maxine expressed a desire for further education, the trial court found that her interest was “either unrealistic or not genuine.” Maxine testified that being a court reporter “would be very interesting to do” and also testified that she would “like to go to enough schooling so that I can learn something about securities and get a little business background.” Maxine did not apply to any school or inquire about the costs of attending school. Upon review of the entire evidence, we have not been left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made in not awarding spousal support beyond four months.

[291]*291 2. Property Valuations

Maxine contends that the trial court erred in valuing assets and liabilities.

The trial court found that Keith’s Pioneer seed business had no value. The business had no tangible assets other than a customer list, which was equally available to Keith and to Pioneer. While it may sometimes be error not to value a service enterprise, such as the sole business of a spouse, we are not persuaded that the trial court erred in assigning no value to this part-time personal service.

The trial court valued growing crops and government farm program payments at $25,000. Maxine contends that the value should have been $78,307.83. Maxine’s value, however, ignores $31,000 that Keith owed for cash rent for 1986. Keith’s accountant testified that the 1986 crop would result in a loss of $37,000 to $57,000. The trial court’s valuation was within the range of the evidence and is not clearly erroneous.

Maxine contends that a money market account valued at $5,000 by the trial court should have been valued at $8,750. In a pretrial property and debt listing submitted pursuant to Rule 8.3, NDROC, both spouses valued the account at $5,000. At trial, Maxine testified that the account had a value of $5,000. Keith, however, testified that the balance in the account was “approximately $8,500.00, $9,000.00 as of the end of May” and that an additional $609 had since been deposited. It is clear that the trial court erred in valuing the account at $5,000. But, it was a relatively small error in valuing assets totalling over six hundred thousand dollars. In view of Maxine’s part in the error, we do not deem the error reversible.

Maxine asserts that the trial court erred in finding an income tax liability of $70,000.

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

Related

Lynnes v. Lynnes
2008 ND 71 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2008)
Neubauer v. Neubauer
524 N.W.2d 593 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Chaussee v. Thiel
520 N.W.2d 789 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Bye v. MacK
519 N.W.2d 302 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Steckler v. Steckler
519 N.W.2d 23 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1994)
Berg v. Berg
490 N.W.2d 487 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1992)
Heggen v. Heggen
488 N.W.2d 627 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1992)
Halvorson v. Halvorson
482 N.W.2d 869 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1992)
Kaiser v. Kaiser
474 N.W.2d 63 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1991)
Weigel v. Kraft
449 N.W.2d 583 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1989)
Hecker v. Hecker
448 N.W.2d 207 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1989)
Dakota Bank & Trust Co. of Fargo v. Federal Land Bank of Saint Paul
437 N.W.2d 841 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1989)
McDonough v. Erdman (In Re Erdman)
96 B.R. 978 (D. North Dakota, 1988)
Behm v. Behm
427 N.W.2d 332 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1988)
Wheeler v. Wheeler
419 N.W.2d 923 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1988)
Dick v. Dick
414 N.W.2d 288 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
414 N.W.2d 288, 1987 N.D. LEXIS 422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dick-v-dick-nd-1987.