In re Marriage of Haleas

2017 IL App (2d) 160799, 79 N.E.3d 271
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 13, 2017
Docket2-16-0799
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2017 IL App (2d) 160799 (In re Marriage of Haleas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Marriage of Haleas, 2017 IL App (2d) 160799, 79 N.E.3d 271 (Ill. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

2017 IL App (2d) 160799

No. 2-16-0799

Opinion filed April 13, 2017

______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT

______________________________________________________________________________

In re MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court PETER J. HALEAS, ) of Du Page County. ) Petitioner-Appellee, ) ) and ) No. 14-D-504 ) FANEE HALEAS, ) Honorable ) Karen M. Wilson, Respondent-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE JORGENSEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Schostok and Spence concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 On March 14, 2014, petitioner, Peter J. Haleas, filed a petition for dissolution of his

marriage to respondent, Fanee Haleas. Ultimately, the parties agreed to resolve their property

and maintenance issues through binding arbitration. On August 9, 2016, the trial court

confirmed the arbitration award and, on August 24, 2016, it entered a final judgment for

dissolution of the marriage, incorporating the award. Respondent appeals, arguing that the

arbitrator erred in finding that certain business interests were petitioner’s nonmarital property

and in determining the amount and duration of maintenance. For the following reasons, we

affirm.

¶2 I. BACKGROUND 2017 IL App (2d) 160799

¶3 Petitioner (age 57) is the chairman of Bridgeview Bancorp (Bancorp) and Bridgeview

Bank Group (BBG). The parties began dating in 2002, shortly after respondent (age 58) became

employed by BBG as vice president of commercial lending. The parties married on July 8, 2006.

They both have children from previous marriages, but no children were born to or adopted by them

during the marriage.

¶4 On March 14, 2014, petitioner petitioned to dissolve the marriage. Respondent filed a

counter-petition and also a petition for temporary maintenance. On June 5, 2014, the trial court

ordered petitioner to pay to respondent: (1) $7500 monthly in temporary maintenance; (2)

$10,000 for travel expenses; (3) all expenses related to the marital residence; and (4) other

personal expenses, such as health insurance, medical bills, and car payments. At that time,

respondent remained employed by BBG, earning more than $100,000 annually. In addition,

respondent received from BBG health-insurance benefits and payment for various monthly

expenditures. However, on May 28, 2015, BBG terminated respondent’s employment.

Respondent thereafter petitioned the trial court for emergency relief and, on September 21, 2015,

the court ordered petitioner to pay respondent an additional $5000 monthly, for a total of

$12,500 in monthly maintenance.

¶5 Prior to trial, the parties decided to submit certain issues to arbitration. According to

respondent, “[o]n or about January 11, 2016, the parties entered into a Mediation/Arbitration

Agreement pursuant to the Illinois Uniform Arbitration Act [(Arbitration Act)], 710 ILCS 5/1 [et

seq. (West 2014)].” Petitioner agrees that, “[i]n lieu of trial, the parties agreed to engage in

binding arbitration, which was expressly subject to the [Arbitration Act].” The parties’

agreement has apparently not been included in the record on appeal. 1 The trial court later

1 To the extent that the agreement is relevant to resolving the issues on appeal, its absence

-2­ 2017 IL App (2d) 160799

reported, however, that the parties had agreed to binding arbitration with respect to their property

and maintenance issues, and the parties do not dispute that representation.

¶6 Thus, the matter proceeded to arbitration before the “Honorable Michele F. Lowrance

(Ret.)” of JAMS arbitration. Both parties were represented by counsel. After five days of

hearing and the presentation of “a substantial amount of evidence and testimony,” on June 20,

2016, the arbitrator issued a 70-page decision. In the decision, the arbitrator expressed that the

arbitration was conducted pursuant to Illinois law and, specifically, that the Illinois Marriage and

Dissolution of Marriage Act (Marriage Act) (750 ILCS 5/101 et seq. (West 2014)) applied to the

issues arbitrated.

¶7 The arbitrator commenced her analysis by noting that she found “greatly concerning”

instances where respondent “presented a distortion of the facts” and that, although respondent

had proffered “elaborate arguments,” respondent failed to substantiate her claims with evidence.

Before making written findings, the arbitrator explained:

“The factual findings that follow are necessary to the [a]ward. They are derived

from the admissions in the pleadings and the testimony and evidentiary exhibits presented

at the hearing. To the extent that these findings differ from any party’s positions, that is

the result of determinations by the [a]rbitrator as to the credibility and relevance, burden

of proof considerations, legal principles, and the weigh[ ]ing of the evidence, both oral

and written.”

is construed against respondent. In re Edgar C., 2014 IL App (1st) 141703, ¶ 82 (“[i]t is the

appellant’s burden to provide this court with a sufficient record to grant the relief he [or she]

requests on the claims that he [or she] raises,” and, if he or she “fails to do so, we will resolve all

doubts arising from incompleteness against the appellant”).

-3­ 2017 IL App (2d) 160799

¶8 As relevant to the issues respondent raises on appeal, the arbitrator rejected respondent’s

arguments concerning petitioner’s income, noting that not all of the deposits into petitioner’s

accounts constituted “income” under the Marriage Act. The arbitrator found that petitioner had

obtained from various financial institutions bona fide loans and that, given that he must repay

them, the loans did not enhance petitioner’s wealth. The arbitrator found that petitioner’s

income in 2016 totaled $325,000. Further, the arbitrator found that specific business interests

were nonmarital property and that some of those interests were entirely encumbered and pledged

as collateral for “substantial amounts of debt to the State Bank of Texas” (i.e., an $8,864,335

debt).

¶9 As relevant to the maintenance award, the arbitrator found that respondent had received

both bachelor’s and graduate degrees and had been employed in the banking industry from 1986

through May 2015; in that period, respondent earned more than $100,000 annually. The

arbitrator found that respondent had intentionally not filed for unemployment benefits. Further,

the arbitrator found that respondent had submitted to the arbitrator multiple copies of identical

job submissions, in an attempt to misrepresent her efforts to seek new employment, and that

respondent had not made a good-faith effort to secure new employment. The arbitrator noted

that, since the commencement of the dissolution proceedings, respondent had received from

petitioner monthly maintenance in the amount of $7500 (from June 2014 to September 2015) and

$12,500 (from September 2015 through the arbitration). Moreover, the arbitrator found that

respondent’s claims of health problems were unsupported by any evidence and, as presented, did

not impede her ability to work.

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Related

In re Marriage of Haleas
2017 IL App (2d) 160799 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)

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2017 IL App (2d) 160799, 79 N.E.3d 271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-haleas-illappct-2017.