Frame v. Frame

696 S.W.2d 332, 1985 Mo. App. LEXIS 3499
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 1985
DocketWD 36429
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 696 S.W.2d 332 (Frame v. Frame) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frame v. Frame, 696 S.W.2d 332, 1985 Mo. App. LEXIS 3499 (Mo. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

NUGENT, Judge.

Josephine Frame appeals the court’s division of marital property in its dissolution decree. She contends that the division of marital property was against the weight of the evidence and was not a just division of the property because it gave her a cash award equal to only one-third of the marital assets.

*333 We dismiss the appeal for lack of final judgment.

The parties were married on two occasions. They were first married in 1957 and divorced in 1972. Even though the marriage was dissolved, they continued to live together, never physically dividing the property as set forth in their property settlement. They remarried on June 5, 1975, and separated on August 4, 1983.

The testimony regarding the parties’ property showed that their primary source of income was from farming, although Mrs. Frame was occasionally employed outside the home as a maid and housekeeper. Keith Frame, the husband, owned a 115 acre farm before their first marriage, and during that marriage they acquired a second farm that became their home during the years they were together. In accordance with a property settlement in the dissolution of their first marriage, the farm and all the personal property went to Mr. Frame. Mrs. Frame got $10,750 in that settlement.

At the time of the second divorce, except for a few items of old farm machinery, all the other property involved in this ease had been acquired by the parties after their remarriage in 1975.

At trial, the evidence was not developed regarding the property the Frames acquired during their second marriage or its value. The only evidence as to what the parties owned and its value was Mr. Frame’s testimony. Throughout the trial he repeatedly expressed doubt as to what he owned, when it was acquired and what its present value was. No financial statements were introduced except tax returns from 1981 and 1982. Mrs. Frame offered no evidence as to what the parties owned or its value except for the household goods acquired during their marriage.

From the evidence adduced at trial, however, the following can be determined. The parties owned a 1983 Chevrolet Caprice that was purchased for $10,000 about a year before their separation. No evidence was presented as to its current value. The evidence also disclosed their ownership of a 1977 Chevrolet four wheel drive truck to which no value was attached. The truck had a powerlift attachment which also was not evaluated.

Mr. Frame testified as to the couple’s livestock. At the time of the trial, they owned as marital property twenty-one calves, valued at about $2,645. That value was uncontroverted. They also owned forty-nine cows valued at $13,475 by both parties. Finally, the couple owned three bulls. One of the bulls had been purchased shortly before trial for $2,000; the other two were much older. Mrs. Frame valued the bulls at $3,476 ($2,000 plus two 1,800 pound bulls at forty cents per pound). Her husband valued the bulls at $2,160 (three 1,800 pound bulls at forty cents per pound).

In addition, Mr. Frame testified that in the year after the separation, he sold fifty calves at fifty-eight cents a pound and each calf averaged between seven hundred and eight hundred pounds. Thus, he received approximately $21,750 in proceeds from that sale. He also sold some of his older cows but gave no testimony as to how many were sold and for what amount. He also did not testify as to what he did with the proceeds from those sales. He did not account to his wife for any of the proceeds. During the separation, Mr. Frame gave his wife about $1,500. In their briefs both parties include the proceeds from the sale of the calves as a separate item of property in evaluating the marital estate, although Mr. Frame contends that only forty calves were sold.

Both parties set the total value of the farm equipment at $14,000. The evidence was that the checking and savings account at the time of divorce totalled $3,000. Mrs. Frame testified that the value of the various household furnishings purchased after the second marriage is a total of $3,225, an amount uncontroverted at trial.

Finally, after the second marriage Mr. Frame bought a building in Bethany. He bought that property in “partnership” with his step-daughter and appears to have at least an undivided one-half interest in it. *334 No evidence was presented as to the source of funds used to purchase the property, nor does the evidence show what part of the purchase price was financed. Mr. Frame testified that the property was mortgaged, but the record indicates that the mortgage had been paid at the time of trial. According to his testimony, the property was sold in 1981 for $35,000. The parties’ 1982 income tax return shows that the property was sold in September, 1982. No testimony was given as to the interest charged the buyer, but Mr. Frame testified that the buyer was to pay $3,000 down and $400 a month for twelve years, which totals $60,-600. At the time of trial, the buyer had been paying about two years which would total about $12,600. 1 Mr. Frame also testified that he deposited the money he received from the buyer into his and his step-daughter’s joint bank account to which his wife had no access. The evidence does not show how much was in the account at the time of trial. The buyer apparently still owes about $48,000.

In addition, the evidence also showed that the parties owned an implement trailer and a disk attachment to a Massey Ferguson tractor which were not valued.

Thus, the evidence at trial seemed to show the following marital property and its values.

1983 Caprice. $10,000

1977 Chevrolet truck w/attachment.:.no value

21 calves. 2,645

49 cows . 13,475

3 bulls. 2,160-3,475

Proceeds from sale of calves in 1983 . 16,820-21,750

Proceeds from sale of cows in 1983 .no value

Farm machinery . 14,000

Bank account. 3,000

Household goods. 3,225

Balance due from sale of ½ interest in real estate. 17,500 2

Disc.no value

Implement trailer .no value

82,825-89,070

Mr. Frame also testified that he owed the bank $10,000 for current farming operations. He stated that this was the only debt of which he was aware. The trial court entered its decree dividing the property as follows:

[The Court] finds that the Petitioner is the owner of certain real estate referred to in the evidence and that the same is non-marital in nature and should be and is free of any and all claims on the part of the Respondent. It is found and determined that the parties own furniture, household goods, cattle, and farm machinery, which is marital in nature and that, after making an allowance of the outstanding indebtednesses which are assumed by the Petitioner, one-half of the net value thereof is determined to be the sum of $23,500_ (Emphasis added.)

The court ordered Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
696 S.W.2d 332, 1985 Mo. App. LEXIS 3499, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frame-v-frame-moctapp-1985.