Fisher v. Fisher

656 P.2d 129, 104 Idaho 68, 1982 Ida. LEXIS 320
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 30, 1982
Docket13202
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 656 P.2d 129 (Fisher v. Fisher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fisher v. Fisher, 656 P.2d 129, 104 Idaho 68, 1982 Ida. LEXIS 320 (Idaho 1982).

Opinions

DONALDSON, Justice.

The plaintiff, Francis Fisher, is a Chippewa-Cree Indian and the defendant, Mervin Fisher, is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock tribe. The parties were married in June, 1963, and Francis Fisher instituted this action for divorce in December 1977. At the time of the divorce the couple lived on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The deed to the property, on which the home was located, was entered into evidence and stated that Fisher’s father had deeded the property to the United States in trust for Mervin Fisher.

The trial court initially took jurisdiction over the case and ordered Francis Fisher the right to temporarily occupy the home and restrained Mervin Fisher from going in or around the premises. After a trial on the merits, the district court ordered that all the personal property be equally divided and that the Angus cattle and farm machinery acquired by the parties be sold. The plaintiff sold the defendant her interest in the Angus cattle and received payment from the defendant. Concerning the real property, the trial court found that the trust property, along with the house, was the separate property of the husband. The court also found that $6,500 of community funds had been contributed to this separate property and therefore ordered the husband to reimburse the wife $3,252 [sic]. This appeal and cross-appeal followed. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The main issue the appellant husband raises is whether the state court lacks juris[70]*70diction to consider properties located within the boundaries of an Indian reservation. Even assuming that the state courts at one time possessed jurisdiction over the subject matter, the husband also raises the issue of whether it has been preempted by federal law.

Firstly, even though 25 U.S.C. § 1322 grants states jurisdiction over divorce proceedings, the husband argues that the court was without jurisdiction to (1) find the property located within the reservation boundaries to be his separate property and (2) to award the wife the right to be reimbursed for community funds expended on this property. The husband argues that by doing this the trial court was in effect adjudicating an ownership interest in the trust property and this is forbidden under 25 U.S.C. § 1322(b) and I.C. § 67-5103.1 This Court recently decided the issue of jurisdiction over Indian property in Sheppard v. Sheppard, 103 Idaho 1, 655 P.2d 895 (1982). Unlike in Sheppard the Fishers are both Indians but we find that under these circumstances this factual difference is not significant and continue to adhere to our holding that the statutes do not prevent state courts from assuming jurisdiction in order to reimburse the community for funds expended on the separate interest trust property. In Sheppard it was stated,

“[f]rom the foregoing we conclude that the exceptions to state jurisdiction in 25 U.S.C. § 1322(b) and I.C. § 67-5103 do not prevent the courts of this state from requiring that one party to a marriage recompense the other party for his or her share of the community contributions that have gone into property that is held in trust or subject to a restraint on alienation by the federal government.” Id. at 20, 655 P.2d at 914.

The husband also argues that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order the cattle and farm machinery sold because they were acquired by financing through the tribal resources. As stated in Sheppard, “[hjowever, by their express terms, the federal statute and its state counterpart only exclude trust property and property subject to restraints on alienation imposed by the federal government.” Sheppard at 15, 655 P.2d at 909. There is nothing in the evidence to indicate that the personal property in question is either trust property or property subject to restraints on alienation. Therefore, these statutes do not prevent the trial court from ordering this property sold even though financed with tribal resources.

Secondly, this Court in Sheppard adequately considered the issue of whether federal law now preempts state courts from dealing with the trust property. We hold that following Sheppard, federal law does not preempt the state courts from determining the status of property and allowing one party to receive reimbursement for community property that has been used to enhance the value of the separate property.

An issue not discussed in Sheppard, but raised by the husband, is whether the trial court had jurisdiction to allow possession of the home, which is on the trust property, to the wife. The trial court stated that he was without authority to award temporary possession to the wife but offered it as an alternative to an order requiring the defendant to pay additional child support moneys. The trial court stated that if the husband objected the wife would not be allowed to remain in temporary possession of the home. The husband did not object until this appeal. Even though the husband may be technically correct in his [71]*71argument, we decline to consider this issue because the wife is no longer in possession and the only relief requested is for this Court to remand to the district court to remove any award of possession.

On cross-appeal the respondent wife raises five issues. Firstly, she claims that the district court erred by not finding the dwelling house to be community property and allowing a one-half of the market value of the home as her portion of the community interest. The trial court found that the restricted property and the home were the separate property of the husband and ordered him to reimburse the wife for one-half of the $6,500. This Court has previously held that title to improvements follows the land. Heslip v. Heslip, 74 Idaho 368, 372, 262 P.2d 999, 1003 (1953). Therefore, because the trust property is the husband’s separate property we hold the court was correct in allowing the wife a right of reimbursement rather than a one-half interest in the home. Suter v. Suter, 97 Idaho 461, 546 P.2d 1169 (1976).2

Secondly, the wife claims that the district court erred by contingently awarding her $1,000 that was being held in the Simplot Credit Union as security for payment of the parties’ 1977 Buick Skylark automobile. The wife argues that she may never receive this money because the husband may never pay the debt. However, an examination of the record reveals that the trial court in the decree of divorce awarded the wife the Buick automobile and ordered her to pay the encumbrance. Therefore, she will not have to rely on the husband to pay the debt and will be entitled to the $1,000 that was used as security as soon as she pays the obligation on that automobile.

Thirdly, the wife claims that it was error for the district court to allow delinquent temporary child support to be used as an offset against the community property before distribution. There is no merit to this argument. “I.C. § 32-708 provides that when a court has made allowances for the wife for temporary support and attorney fees under I.C.

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Fisher v. Fisher
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Bluebook (online)
656 P.2d 129, 104 Idaho 68, 1982 Ida. LEXIS 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fisher-v-fisher-idaho-1982.