In re Marriage of Lutterman

97 P.3d 664, 195 Or. App. 124, 2004 Ore. App. LEXIS 1142
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 1, 2004
Docket901529; A117724
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 97 P.3d 664 (In re Marriage of Lutterman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon 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 Lutterman, 97 P.3d 664, 195 Or. App. 124, 2004 Ore. App. LEXIS 1142 (Or. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, J.

Husband appeals from a judgment for contempt of court, arguing that the court should have granted his motion for summary judgment because wife’s contempt action was barred by claim preclusion. We review for errors of law and reverse and remand.

The parties’ marriage was dissolved on January 25, 1991. The dissolution judgment incorporated their marital settlement agreement (MSA). The parties’ MSA provides, among other things, that, in the event that the family residence is occupied by a person other than husband, whether or not husband continues to occupy the family residence, such occupant must pay rent, with one-half of the rental amount directly payable to wife. It also provides that, if the family residence is not sold within two years from the date of the MSA and if a debt to Craig Wasson has been paid in fall by that time, wife is entitled to one-half of all rents payable on the parties’ rental properties, less expenses associated with maintenance and upkeep, including taxes and insurance. It further provides that all expenses beyond routine maintenance and upkeep must be incurred only by joint decision of the parties.

On July 12, 1999, wife filed a motion for contempt against husband, arguing that husband should be found in contempt for his failure to abide by the terms of the MSA. Wife asked that husband be found in contempt for failure “to sell certain real property, vehicles and animals/livestock/ ‘junk’ items in barn” and for failure to divide the proceeds from the sale of those items equally with wife. Wife further argued that husband “failed to pay one-half of the $600 rental value ($300) of the marital residence once it became occupied by someone other than [husband].”

In wife’s affidavit in support of her motion for contempt, she stated:

“6. Further, the [MSA] provides that if the family residence is not sold within two years of the date of the [MSA] and if the underlying obligation on the five-acre lot owed to Craig Wasson has been paid in full by that time, that/ shall [127]*127be entitled to one-half of all rents payable on the rental properties. Neither the family residence nor any of the real properties in the [MSA] have been sold and the obligation to Craig Wasson was paid * * * but I have not received any portion of the rents payable on the rental properties.”

(Emphasis added.)

The contempt issues were heard in November 1999 and April 2000. The hearing was conducted on April 26,2000. On September 20, 2000, wife moved for leave to amend her pleadings to add as an issue husband’s failure to pay wife 50 percent of the rents payable on the rental properties. In her affidavit in support of that motion, wife explained that, in her motion for contempt, she requested

“that [husband] be held in contempt of court for his willful failure to sell certain real property, vehicles and animals/ livestock/junk’ items * * * and to split the proceeds equally * * * and for his willful failure to pay [wife] one-half of the $600 rental value of the marital residence once it became occupied by someone in addition to [husband], as required by the parties’ [MSA]. * * * [Wife] included in her Affidavit * * * the fact that [husband] had failed to give her one-half of income from the parties’ rental properties * * *. However, this issue was not specifically raised in [wife’s] Motion for Contempt.
“3. Even though it was not raised by the pleadings, the issue of the income from the parties’ rental properties was tried by implied consent of the parties. Throughout the extensive litigation of this case, both [wife] and [husband] exchanged discovery regarding income from the rental properties, addressed many questions in depositions on rental income and expenses, fully briefed the issue in pre-hearing and post-hearing memoranda, and then specifically tried this issue in court. Both parties acted as though the issue had been raised in the pleadings and neither side objected to the presentation of evidence on the issue. * * * [T]his issue * * * should be treated in all respects as if it had been raised by the pleadings * *

Husband opposed the motion to amend, and the court denied wife’s motion for leave to amend. In January 2001, the court issued an order finding husband in contempt [128]*128on other matters but not in contempt regarding rent. Neither party appealed that order.

On June 25, 2001, wife filed a second motion for contempt, arguing that husband failed to pay wife “a portion of the rents payable on the rental properties in this case.” In her supporting affidavit, wife explained that “the issue of the rental income on certain properties owned by [husband] and I was not * * * raised in my previous motion for contempt, and the Court did not consider this issue.”

Husband moved for summary judgment and argued that wife’s second motion for contempt was barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion. The trial court denied husband’s motion for summary judgment. In its letter opinion, the court explained:

“Had [husband] not objected to [wife’s] Motion to Amend her Pleading, [the] amendment would have had the effect of allowing the court to consider those issues * * * [and] I would be more disposed to granting the Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds of claim preclusion.
“I agree with [wife’s] argument that this court, sitting in equity, should not permit [husband] to: (1) Oppose [wife’s] motion to amend her pleadings in Case No. 1 to add Claim X; and, (2) Make the argument that [wife’s] failure to allege Claim X, which could have been included in the first proceeding, should as a result work as a bar via claim preclusion in Case No. 2.”

(Emphasis and underscoring in original; internal quotation marks omitted.) The trial court found husband in contempt.

Husband appeals and argues that “[t]he trial court erred as a matter of law in denying husband’s motion for summary judgment” because claim preclusion prevented wife from litigating any issue concerning income from the rental properties. Specifically, husband argues that wife’s second motion for contempt could have been joined with her first motion because wife’s claim in her second motion was based on the same factual transaction that was at issue in the first.

[129]*129In response, wife makes three arguments. First, wife argues that, in this case, the denial of the motion for summary judgment does not involve a pure question of law and is therefore not reviewable on appeal. Second, she argues that

“[¡Judicial estoppel is a useful analogy in this case. Husband’s position in the earlier proceeding is effectively inconsistent with his position on summary judgment. The purpose of judicial estoppel is to protect the judiciary from ‘perversion’ of judicial machinery and, by denying husband’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court avoided just such a perversion.”

Third, wife argues that “wife’s second motion for contempt is not barred by claim preclusion.”

We begin with wife’s first argument. Wife contends that

“a denial of summary judgment is reviewable on appeal only if the motion for summary judgment raised an issue of law and there were no adjudicative facts to be found.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
97 P.3d 664, 195 Or. App. 124, 2004 Ore. App. LEXIS 1142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-lutterman-orctapp-2004.