Hartley v. Hartley

862 N.E.2d 274, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 366, 2007 WL 646196
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 5, 2007
Docket48A04-0603-CV-147
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 862 N.E.2d 274 (Hartley v. Hartley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartley v. Hartley, 862 N.E.2d 274, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 366, 2007 WL 646196 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

CRONE, Judge.

Case Summary

John M. Hartley (“John”) challenges the trial court’s dissolution decree that ended his marriage to Nancy F. Hartley (“Nancy”). We affirm.

Issues

John raises three issues, which we restate as follows:

I. Whether the trial court erred in its disposition of marital property;
II. Whether the trial court erred in failing to apply a parenting time credit to his child support obligation; and
III. Whether the trial court erred in denying his request for attorney fees.

Facts and Procedural History

On May 27, 1988, John and Nancy were married. They had three children during their marriage: J.M.H., born September 29, 1988; J.A.H., born April 16, 1990; and S.H., born April 6,1993.

On July 21, 2004, John filed a petition for dissolution. On November 23, 2005, and December 21, 2005, the trial court held a hearing on the petition. The trial court took the matter under advisement and requested that the parties file proposed findings of fact and conclusions thereon, and both parties did so. On February 16, 2006, the trial court issued its final judgment, which included the following relevant findings and conclusions:

FINDINGS OF FACT
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9. John Hartley is employed by Sears and in 2004 had earnings of $32,232.00 and testified his earning[s] were slightly higher in 2005. John Hartley also purchases cars and repairs the same for resale and sells about four vehicles per year averaging $350.00 profit per sale.
10. Nancy Hartley is employed at Roche Diagnostics at an annual salary of $66,482.00 in 2004. Her earnings were comparable in 2005.
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16.In 2005, John Hartley had only 68 overnights with only one child rather than three children. As a result of having overnight visitation with only one child at a time, John Hartley would need 153 overnights with a child before he would be eligible for a parenting time credit pursuant to the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines.
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19. Jo Anne Main, Nancy Hartley’s mother, made gifts to Nancy Hartley and her family. The gifts started in 1990 after Jo Anne’s husband, John Farr, died. The gifts came from a trust fund established by John Farr and other monies came from Jo Anne Main’s savings. From 1990 to 2003, Jo Anne Main gave Nancy and her family [278]*278$158,000.00_ Ms. Main’s gifts were intended for Nancy to use for the children even though some of the gifts were distributed to John Hartley or the children.
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23. Jo Anne Main and Nancy Hartley purchased gold with a portion of the money prior to the Y2K scare. The three payments made in 2001 for $3,000.00 each to [J.M.H, J.A.H., and S.A.] were made directly to 529 Putnam college accounts. Nancy Hartley was also aware that the monies paid to Nancy and the three children in 1999 in the sum of $40,000.00 were to be applied to the purchase of acreage in Markleville as an investment for the children’s college education.
24. The parties own a house [in] Pen-dleton, Indiana which was appraised for $158,000. The house has no mortgage.
25. The home [in] Pendleton, Indiana was originally purchased for $56,000.00 in 1988. $40,000.00 in lump sum payments on the mortgage were made by Nancy Hartley from the gifts received from Jo Anne Main.
26. The parties also own 11 acres [in] Markleville, Indiana.... The property also has a mobile home on site. The land and the mobile home were appraised for $72,000.00. The Markleville acreage was purchased in 1999 for $56,000.00. $40,000.00 of the purchase price came from gifts from Jo Anne Main and $16,000.00 was borrowed from Nancy Hartley’s 401(k) account through Roche Diagnostics].
27. The parties own $50,032.00 in United States Savings Bonds. Most are titled in either John Hartley’s name or Nancy Hartley’s name. The gifts from Jo Anne Main were used to purchase 80% of the bonds. About $10,000 worth of bonds were purchased through a program at John Hartley’s employment. The parties agree that these monies should be used for the children’s post-secondary educations.
28. Nancy Hartley and Jo Anne Main purchased gold and silver prior to the Y2K scare with monies given by Jo Anne Main and from custodial accounts for J.M.H. and J.A.H. The gold and silver have a value of $17,771.
29. In December, 2003, Jo Anne Main gave $9,000 directly to 529 Putnam college accounts for [J.M.H., J.A.H., and S.H.]. These accounts have a combined value of $9,074.00.
30. In December, 2000, Jo Ann Main gave Nancy Hartley $10,000 which was immediately invested into a custodial account for J.M.H. The account at the time of separation had a value of $7,402.00 and Nancy Hartley is the custodian of this account.
31. John Hartley has a defined benefit pension and 401(K) account through his employment with Sears. All of John’s employment at Sears occurred during the marriage. John Sandlin, CPA, valued Mr. Hartley’s retirement benefits as having a pre-tax value of $64,985.00 and an after-tax value of $52,313.00.
32. Nancy Hartley has a defined benefit pension and a 401(K) account through her employment with Roche Diagnostics. A small portion of her retirement benefits [was] earned prior to the marriage. John Sandlin, CPA, valued Mr. Hart-ley’s retirement benefits as having a pre-tax value of $161,481. With a cover-ture ratio of 92.02 percent, the retirement benefits earned during the marriage had a pre-tax value of $148,595 and an after-tax value of $119,619.
33. The household furnishings and tools were divided by agreement of the parties and not specifically valued.
[279]*27934. The parties own five vehicles: a 1996 Buick Roadmaster driven by John Hartley valued at $6,590.00; another 1996 Buick Roadmaster driven by Nancy Hartley valued at $4,500.00 because of higher mileage and needed repairs; a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice convertible valued at $10,000.00; a 1978 Chevrolet Sil-verado truck valued at $2,000.00, and a 1983 Chevrolet Silverado truck valued at $800.00.
35. During the course of the marriage, Nancy Hartley was the principal wage earner and also managed a large share of the parenting and household responsibilities. For most of their married life, John Hartley worked about 25 hours a week.
36. The three Hartley children are within five years of each other. All of them may be attending college or vocational training at the same time.
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40. The parties desire for their children to attend college if they so choose. Most of the investments made by the Hartleys were to insure their children’s higher educations. The gifts made by Jo Anne Main were intended for the Hartley children’s future.
41.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
862 N.E.2d 274, 2007 Ind. App. LEXIS 366, 2007 WL 646196, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartley-v-hartley-indctapp-2007.