In Re Marriage of Leisner

579 N.E.2d 1091, 219 Ill. App. 3d 752, 162 Ill. Dec. 277, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1596
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 17, 1991
Docket1-89-2637
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 579 N.E.2d 1091 (In Re Marriage of Leisner) 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 Leisner, 579 N.E.2d 1091, 219 Ill. App. 3d 752, 162 Ill. Dec. 277, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1596 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE SCARIANO

delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondent, Anthony Leisner, appeals from the circuit court’s distribution of assets between him and petitioner, Karen Leisner, when it granted Karen’s petition to dissolve their marriage. He contends that the court erroneously found the following assets to be marital property: (1) monies he received pursuant to a “phantom stock agreement” with his employer; (2) the net proceeds from the sale of his and Karen’s former residence; and (3) $141,000 in contributions he made to his employer’s profit-sharing plan. In addition, Anthony contends that the court, in finding that he had dissipated assets, improperly failed to specify what assets were dissipated, that it wrongly failed to consider the tax consequences to him of its classification as marital property the proceeds from the phantom stock agreement, and that it awarded Karen an inequitable share of the marital estate. He seeks reversal of the judgment and a remand for a redistribution of assets.

Karen testified during a hearing on a motion in limine prior to trial that she and Anthony were married on January 5, 1985, and had one child, the custody of whom they agreed would lie with Karen. At the time of trial, on July 24, 1989, Karen was age 41 and Anthony was 46.

We first discuss the “phantom stock agreement,” the proceeds of which the trial court held were marital assets. Anthony’s employer, Quality Books, Inc., finding it “desirable to encourage and reward [Anthony] Leisner in a manner that will stimulate his active interest in the development and financial success of the Company and strengthen his desire to remain with the Company,” agreed on November 30, 1984 (November 30, 1984, agreement), that if Quality Books was not sold by February 29, 1988 (delivery date), Anthony was to receive a promissory note from it for an amount equal to the value of 20 shares of its common stock (hence the term “phantom stock agreement”), plus “a sum *** equal to the amount of cash which he would have received on account of [any cash dividends upon the common stock of the Company which would have been declared and paid prior to the delivery date] *** had he been the owner of *** [those 20 shares].” If Quality Books was sold “within a six (6) month period following *** the Delivery Date” (by August 29, 1988), Anthony was to receive a percentage of the sales price, from which the amount payable under the promissory note would be subtracted. The percentage was to be reduced if Anthony voluntarily terminated his employment with Quality Books before such a sale took place. Finally, the agreement stated that it could “not be modified or amended except in writing.”

Both Anthony and Tom Drewes, the majority shareholder in Quality Books, testified that a letter was executed “as a statement of good faith” on December 18, 1987 (the letter is dated December 17), regarding an “intent” to be “formalize[d] *** later” to extend the delivery date to February 29, 1992 (December 17, 1987, letter). On February 29, 1988, while negotiations were going on for the sale of the company, Quality Books listed on its balance sheet as a “Long-Term Liability: Note payable” the amount of $33,361, which Drewes testified was equal to the accrued value of “10 percent of [Quality Books’] operating earnings subsequent to 1984.” Anthony, according to Drewes, “would have that money if there was no sale.” A promissory note for that amount, however, was never issued to Anthony.

Drewes also testified that on July 20, 1988, he signed an amendment to the “agreement as of November 30, 1984,” which changed the delivery date from “the 29th day of February, 1988” to “the 28th day of February, 1991.” The amendment also ensured that the number of shares the value of which was to be reflected in the promissory note was equal to 10% of Quality Books’ common stock (July 20, 1988, amendment). Drewes admitted, however, that Robert Levin, his attorney, wrote to Gregory Brown, Anthony’s attorney, in an August 3, 1988, letter concerning “the proposed Amendment to the 1984 Agreement,” which he “believe[d] was signed by Tom and Roberta Drewes [the sole shareholders of Quality Books], both individually and on behalf of the company, but not by Tony.” The letter further stated:

“On *** August 1, 1988, I received a call from Tony Leisner indicating that, due to circumstances beyond all of our control, he had no intention of signing any of these amendments and intended to live solely by the original Agreement dated November 30, 1984. *** I wish to eliminate all chances of misunderstanding in the future and advise you formally that, since none of these proposed amendments have been fully agreed to by all of the parties, we deem all of these purported amendments to be null and void and of no force and effect. The original agreement, however, continues to be operative pursuant to its terms.”

Another document, dated August 29, 1988 (August 29, 1988, document), but which Brown testified “was executed on or after September 9, 1988” modified the “agreement as of November 30, 1984,” by: (1) changing the delivery date from “ ‘the 29th day of February, 1988’ ” to “ ‘the 28th day of February, 1991’ (2) cancelling “the note from the Company payable to Leisner in the amount of $33,361 as of February 29, 1988[,] *** as a result of this change”; (3) adding a sentence stating that the number of shares the value of which was to be reflected in the promissory note was to be equal to “ten percent (10%) of the equity value of the Company”; and (4) changing the date by which Quality Books was to be sold in order for Anthony to share in the sales price to August 31, 1991. Quality Books was sold on September 13, 1988; Anthony testified that he received $383,900 in 1988 and “[approximately $59,000” in 1989 as a result of the “phantom stock agreement.” Pursuant to the August 29, 1988, document, Anthony was to receive additional monies based upon Quality Books’ profits during fiscal years 1989, 1990 and 1991.

On November 17, 1988, Brown wrote to Leisner, summarizing the “continuity of documentation evidencing your ‘phantom stock’ agreement with Quality Books, Inc.” The letter stated that the December 17, 1987, letter extended the original delivery date to February 29, 1992, that “a more formal amendment to the 1984 agreement was executed on July 20, 1988,” which extended the delivery date to February 28, 1991, and that the August 29, 1988, document made “several other technical changes *** in the agreement.” Brown testified at trial, however, that he did not see the December 17, 1987, letter until November 3, 1988, and that he did not see Anthony sign the July 20, 1988, amendment.

Drewes testified that he and Anthony shared a similar office for 21 years, but that they had “[v]ery infrequently” discussed issues concerning his two divorces prior to his marriage to Karen, as well as his marriage to Karen. Anthony, however, testified that he and Drewes “have both chosen not to” take a car allowance from Quality Books of $500 a month to which Anthony was entitled; Anthony stated that he hoped, by refusing the allowance, which would have been classified as marital property, to increase the profitability of the company.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
579 N.E.2d 1091, 219 Ill. App. 3d 752, 162 Ill. Dec. 277, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1596, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-leisner-illappct-1991.