Ellis v. Ellis

2008 ME 191, 962 A.2d 328, 2008 Me. LEXIS 195
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedDecember 23, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2008 ME 191 (Ellis v. Ellis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellis v. Ellis, 2008 ME 191, 962 A.2d 328, 2008 Me. LEXIS 195 (Me. 2008).

Opinion

CLIFFORD, J.

[¶ 1] Julia A. Ellis appeals from an order entered in the District Court (Farmington, Dow, J.) modifying Robert G. Ellis’s spousal support and child support obligations set out in the parties’ 2004 divorce judgment, and denying Julia’s motion for contempt. Julia contends, inter alia, that the court applied the wrong legal standard in modifying the spousal support award by failing to fully consider and apply language in the divorce judgment prohibiting a decrease in spousal support based on her financial circumstances, and that absent the consideration of her circumstances, the extent of the modification was unjustified. Julia also contends that the trial court erred when it modified Robert’s support obligation for their two minor children because there was insufficient evidence of a substantial change in circumstances. Lastly, Julia argues that the court should have held Robert in contempt for not paying spousal support, and that it should have ordered Robert to pay attorney fees to Julia based on the disparity in their ability to pay. We affirm the judgment.

I. CASE HISTORY

[¶ 2] Julia and Robert, both represented by counsel, agreed on the terms of their divorce, and on April 16, 2004, the court entered a divorce judgment reflecting that agreement. Julia was unemployed at the time. The divorce judgment provided that Robert was to pay Julia spousal support in the amount of $600 per week for a period of six and one-half years, or 338 payments, and $355 per week in child support. As to the spousal support award, the judgment also stated: “During the term, there shall be no increase based on changes of circumstances and no decrease based upon the financial circumstances of [Julia], but said spousal support shall cease upon the death of either party or the remarriage of [Julia] or the expiration of the said term, whichever is earlier.” (Emphasis added.) The judgment also provided that Julia keep the marital home, but required her to [331]*331pay Robert $20,000 at the end of ten years for his share of the equity in the home.

[¶ 3] Robert is employed as a physician’s assistant. Before starting his studies to become a physician’s assistant, he and Julia consolidated the debt remaining on their undergraduate student loans. As part of the divorce judgment, Robert took on the responsibility of the debt, even though Julia had incurred much of it. The total monthly payment for the undergraduate loan debt is approximately $278 per month. Robert also pays the educational loans he incurred while training to be a physician’s assistant. In total, Robert pays approximately $575 per month toward student loans and owes a total of approximately $40,000.

[¶ 4] For a period of time after the divorce, Robert paid his spousal support obligation while working four different jobs. In order to maintain the multiple jobs, Robert worked sixty, seventy, and sometimes eighty hours per week. In 2003, Robert made approximately $108,000. In 2004, he earned approximately $112,000, and in 2005, he made approximately $120,000. Robert felt that working such long hours prevented him from being a good father, and so he left the Skowhegan area where he had been living and working to move closer to the children in New Vineyard.

[¶ 5] Up until June of 2006, Julia had been in school earning her nursing degree. As soon as she began working as a nurse in June of 2006, Robert stopped making spousal support payments. According to Robert, Julia had assured him that she would not continue to collect the $600 per week in spousal support once she completed nursing school. According to Julia, the agreement in the divorce judgment regarding spousal support was based in part on her support of Robert while he studied to be a physician’s assistant, and was intended to allow her and the children to remain in the marital home for the full six and one-half years while she sought a career that would enable her to support herself and the children.1

[¶ 6] On June 29, 2006, Julia filed a motion for contempt. On August 14, 2006, Robert moved to modify spousal support and child support. In November of 2006, the parties agreed to have their pending motions considered together, and Robert agreed to pay $300 per week in spousal support. Robert paid the $300 per week until mid-February of 2007, at which time Julia filed another motion for contempt. The court heard the motions in April of 2007. As of that time, Robert owed Julia $21,600 in back spousal support.

[¶ 7] At the time of the hearing, Robert was forty-three years old. He worked at the Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington as an orthopedic physician’s assistant earning $83,000 per year. The hospital paid approximately $240 per month toward Robert’s student loans. Robert also worked part-time, when able to, at the Redington-Fairview emergency room in Skowhegan.

[¶ 8] At that time, Julia was forty-one years old. She worked nights as a nurse an average of thirty-three hours per week. Her stated goal is to go back to school to obtain an advanced degree to allow her to work as a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist.

[332]*332[¶ 9] Robert testified that he can pay child support, but is unable to pay any spousal support. He testified about his attempts to lower his expenses, such as keeping the heat turned down, canceling his land-line phone, and using furniture provided by his parents. He lives in a house his parents own, and he is sometimes unable to pay the monthly rent of $550. He testified that he has borrowed money from his parents, and incurred credit card debt to pay his monthly expenses. He has accumulated approximately $33,000 in credit card debt over the last three years. He also assumed $15,000 of marital credit card debt in the divorce judgment. His total monthly credit card payment is $1150.

[¶ 10] After the hearing, the court addressed Robert’s spousal support obligation and modified it, decreasing it from $600 to $150 per week. In doing so, the court explicitly disavowed any reliance on the increase in Julia’s income, and stated that it considered only the decrease in Robert’s income. The court also granted Robert’s motion to modify his child support obligation, calculating the child support based on the parties’ representations of their incomes. Julia filed this appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

[¶ 11] “The party seeking modification of a spousal support award granted in a divorce judgment bears the burden of establishing a substantial change in circumstances justifying a modification.” Largay v. Largay, 2000 ME 108, ¶ 11, 752 A.2d 194, 197. Once the party has met that burden, the court may order a modification if “justice requires.” 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(4) (2007).2

[¶ 12] If the spousal support provision includes an anti-modification clause, a different standard applies.

When the divorce decree incorporates the parties’ agreement that there be no modification of the award of alimony ... a payor spouse seeking to reduce his or her obligation must justify the modification on the basis of changed circumstances beyond a mere showing that there has been a substantial change in the parties’ respective economic circumstance.

Day v. Day, 1998 ME 194, ¶ 6, 717 A.2d 914, 916.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2008 ME 191, 962 A.2d 328, 2008 Me. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellis-v-ellis-me-2008.