Dudas v. Pietrzykowski

813 A.2d 1, 2002 Pa. Super. 346, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3246
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 8, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 813 A.2d 1 (Dudas v. Pietrzykowski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dudas v. Pietrzykowski, 813 A.2d 1, 2002 Pa. Super. 346, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3246 (Pa. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinions

HESTER, J.:

¶ 1 Theodore Pietrzykowski (“Husband”) appeals from the November 26, 2001 order denying his motion to release funds received through workers’ compensation which were held in escrow for payment of alimony. We affirm.

¶ 2 The record reveals the following. Husband and Helen Dudas (‘Wife”) were married on October 15, 1960, but after almost thirty-two years of marriage, the parties separated on June 29, 1992. Five children were born of the marriage, and all were over the age of eighteen when the parties separated. On August 12, 1992, Wife filed a complaint for support, and at some point thereafter, Husband began receiving workers’ compensation benefits.1 On September 24, 1992, an order for support was entered, and on January 5, 1995, the parties executed a settlement agreement. That agreement provided Husband was to pay Wife $500.00 per month for alimony, and the alimony would be reduced to fifty percent of Husband’s social security benefit in the event Husband became eligible for social security and elected to receive it, but in no event would Wife receive greater than $500.00 per month. Further, if Wife died, cohabitated, or remarried, Husband’s alimony obligation would cease.

¶ 3 On September 25, 1996, the parties agreed by stipulation that Husband was to pay Wife permanent non-modifiable alimony amounting to $500.00 per month except that if Wife died, cohabitated, or remarried, Husband’s obligation would cease. Further, the $500.00 monthly payment was to be made regardless of whether Husband eventually became eligible for social security. The trial court entered an order that incorporated the parties’ stipulation. Trial Court Order, 9/25/96, at 1. On October 28, 1996, the trial court issued a divorce decree.

¶ 4 To satisfy his alimony obligation, Husband’s workers’ compensation carrier each month sent a check for $500.00 to Lehigh County Domestic Relations, which forwarded the money to Wife. Eventually, Husband’s carrier sent the money to the Pennsylvania State Collection and Disbursement Unit (“PASCDU”), and Wife received her payments from that entity.

¶ 5 On July 20, 1999, Husband was granted a commutation of his workers’ compensation benefits. Before the carrier would release the funds, however, it required the consent of Wife. When the parties could not agree on the division of the award, Wife refused to give her consent. The workers’ compensation judge then ordered that the commutation award be placed in an escrow account. Accordingly, on August 19, 1999, a check for $85,029.00 was issued to Husband’s attorney and Wife’s attorney jointly, who then placed the funds in an interest-bearing escrow account. The signatures of both counsel were required before any funds could be withdrawn from the account. On March [3]*322, 2001, $9,937.04 was withdrawn from the account and paid to Wife to satisfy an arrearage owed by Husband.2

¶ 6 On November 26, 2001, the trial court ordered that the remaining balance in the escrow account, $76,388.16, be forwarded to Lehigh County Domestic Relations, and that entity was to place the funds into an annuity escrow account maintained by a federally-insured financial institution, to be drawn upon monthly to pay Wife $500.00 for alimony. The order of court also provided that Wife’s payments were to cease upon her cohabitation, death, or remarriage, and that if one of these events occurred, any amount remaining in the annuity account was to be paid directly to Husband. This appeal follows.

¶ 7 Husband raises one issue on appeal. He argues the trial court erred in determining that a post-divorce lump sum workers’ compensation award is a marital asset subject to court order when the injury of a party occurred after the parties separated and the lump sum compensation was awarded after the parties were divorced. For reasons to follow, we find this issue waived.

¶ 8 Initially, we observe the parties have not cited what standard of review this Court is to utilize in the underlying matter. Husband refers us to two cases that “sets forth Pennsylvania standards in an action such as the one presently before” us, Appellant’s brief at 7, however, those cases are inapplicable to the underlying issue.

¶ 9 We begin by stating that an appellate court may disturb the order of a trial court only where it determines that the court committed an error of law or abused its discretion. Valles v. Albert Einstein Medical Center, 569 Pa. 542, 805 A.2d 1232 (2002). Further,

[u]nder § 3701(b) of the Divorce Code, “in determining whether alimony is necessary and in determining the nature, amount, duration, and manner of payment of alimony, the court shall consider all relevant factors,” including seventeen enumerated factors. 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 3701(b).... “In determining whether a court has abused its discretion, we do not usurp the trial court’s duty as finder of fact. The trial court’s findings, if supported by credible evidence, are binding upon a reviewing court and will be followed.”

Miller v. Miller, 744 A.2d 778, 788-89 (Pa.Super.1999) (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added).

¶ 10 Husband argues that under Pennsylvania law, post-divorce workers’ compensation commutation awards intended to be payments for future earnings are not considered marital assets. Appellant’s brief at 10. The entire essence of Husband’s argument is that the trial court improperly determined that Husband’s commutation award was marital property, and therefore, improperly “used equitable distribution principles to retroactively award those funds to the former spouse years after the separation and divorce of the parties.” Id. We find Husband’s argument specious since we have carefully reviewed the record and are unable to find where the trial court treats the commutation award as marital property. Indeed, Husband does not cite to where in the record his bald assertions have support.

¶ 11 Herein, it is undisputed that Husband’s injuries occurred after the parties [4]*4separated, that Husband began receiving workers’ compensation benefits before a divorce decree was issued, and he received a commutation of his workers’ compensation benefits after the parties were divorced. Husband argues that under Ciliberti v. Ciliberti 374 Pa.Super. 228, 542 A.2d 580 (1988), Moore v. Moore, 710 A.2d 633, 635 (Pa.Super.1998), and Drake v. Drake, 555 Pa. 481, 725 A.2d 717, 726 (1999), we are required to find the trial court erred in determining the commutation award marital property. As noted, there is no evidence that the trial considered Husband’s award marital property. Thus, the cases Husband cites, which focus on equitable distribution of a commutation award and not alimony, are misplaced.

¶ 12 In Ciliberti, the parties filed for divorce after approximately twenty-one years of marriage. The parties were able to resolve most of the economical issues pertaining to the divorce, with the exception of the husband’s disability pension. The master determined that the pension was marital property. We stated,

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Bluebook (online)
813 A.2d 1, 2002 Pa. Super. 346, 2002 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dudas-v-pietrzykowski-pasuperct-2002.