In Re Marriage of Moll

597 N.E.2d 1230, 232 Ill. App. 3d 746, 174 Ill. Dec. 18, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1204
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 30, 1992
Docket2-91-0956
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 597 N.E.2d 1230 (In Re Marriage of Moll) 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 Moll, 597 N.E.2d 1230, 232 Ill. App. 3d 746, 174 Ill. Dec. 18, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1204 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE NICKELS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Respondent, David A. Moll, appeals that part of the circuit court’s order of dissolution of marriage that apportioned the marital property. The circuit court awarded to David the proceeds of certain unsecured loans, which David had unilaterally made to his father using marital funds (David’s father’s notes). Petitioner, Coral L. Moll, was awarded two parcels of land totalling 218 acres (the farm property), which Coral and David owned as tenants in common, but which David had again unilaterally leased to his father and brother. David asserts that: (1) the marital property was unjustly apportioned; (2) the circuit court failed to consider all relevant statutory factors (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 40, par. 503); (3) the circuit court failed to consider the ef-feet its award of the farm property to Coral would have on the farming operation of David’s father and brother (Moll family farming operation); (4) the circuit court incorrectly found David’s conduct in unilaterally loaning money and leasing the farm property to the Moll family farming operation to be improper and considered such conduct as a factor in apportioning the marital property; (5) the circuit court considered improper evidence of valuation; (6) the circuit court improperly valued David’s father’s notes; (7) the circuit court failed to assign a portion of both the farm property and David’s father’s notes to each party; and (8) the circuit court failed to consider David’s contribution to the family after the separation of the parties and before the order of dissolution.

The parties were married in 1970, at which time Coral was 17 years old and David was 19 years old. During the almost 20 years prior to their separation, three children were bom, Rachael, Aaron, and Monica, ages 20, 17, and 15, respectively, at the time of the dissolution proceeding. Shortly after their marriage, the parties moved into a farmhouse on one of David’s father’s farms, where they lived rent free, although the parties provided services to David’s father as part of the families’ farming operations. After the parties’ separation in April 1990, David continued to live in that house with Monica and Aaron, and Rachel attended college studying to become a nurse. David paid a portion of Rachel’s college expenses, and she provided the balance of her needs.

Beginning immediately and throughout most of their marriage, Coral and David operated their own farm, as did David’s father and brother. Both Coral and David participated in the operation of the farm, although David performed the majority of the field work while Coral raised their family. In 1986, health reasons forced David to give up farming as a livelihood. David then began work at Kelly Springfield Tire Company, where he continued to work at the time of these proceedings. However, he continued to participate in his father’s and brother’s farming operations. In 1987, for the first time in their marriage, Coral began working outside the home.

As is common in families with several generations devoted to farming, David and Coral’s finances were inexorably intertwined with that of David’s father and brother with minimal record-keeping. In 1986, when David and Coral ceased farming, their equipment and livestock were sold with little cash remaining after the payment of taxes and outstanding liens. At that time, cattle that David and Coral owned jointly with David’s father were also sold, realizing a net profit to David and Coral of $84,810.42. David immediately loaned that amount to his father in exchange for unsecured notes from his father. The notes were payable to David alone and lacked any indication of an interest rate or due date.

In 1987, David’s father loaned David and Coral $10,000 to purchase a Chevy Eurosport car which Coral was using at the time of the dissolution proceeding. The $10,000 was offset against the balance of David’s father’s notes. Although no note was executed reflecting this transaction, Coral admitted the partial repayment of David’s father’s notes. At the time of the dissolution proceeding, David was driving the parties’ 1987 Dodge Raider, which had an outstanding loan of $1,100 and had been acquired from Coral’s parents. In addition, the parties’ 1978 Ford truck, which had an outstanding loan of $1,066, was being driven by David’s father.

In June 1989, David and Coral, together with David’s father and brother and their respective spouses, accomplished a restructuring of all of the debt associated with the Moll family farming operation. The restructuring was based on a five-year special interest rate at 2% to 3% less than the then prevailing rate, which was extended to all property within the restructuring. The restructuring was premised on the repayment abilities of all of the property and of all of the members of the Moll family, including David and Coral. As a result of that restructuring, David and Coral purchased the farm property from David’s parents at a price of'$324,800. To accomplish this purchase, David and Coral assumed the existing mortgage in addition to making a down payment of $64,000. The funds for the down payment were comprised of David and Coral’s savings in addition to loans from their children’s savings, against their insurance policies, against Coral’s car and a car driven by Aaron, and an advance on the rental of the acreage.

After the restructuring, David immediately leased the farm property for a term of five years to a company operated by David’s father and brother at an annual rent of $26,562.50. The lease provided that the income of $3,000 received from the rental of the home located on the farm property was payable to David’s father, which David testified was in lieu of rent from the house occupied by David and Coral at that time and eventually by David and the children. The annual rent from the farm property was insufficient to pay the annual mortgage, taxes, and insurance of $29,562.50, $4,576, and $653, respectively, without regard to any maintenance costs. David alone executed the lease with his father and brother.

In January 1990, David executed a note to his father for $12,000, which David testified was used to make the biannual mortgage payment on the farm property. In addition, David’s father made two loans to David of $6,000 each in June and July 1990 to pay the notes on Coral’s car and Aaron’s car. In September 1990, David’s father loaned him an additional $6,000, of which $5,000 was used to repay Rachel’s notes so that she could purchase a car. David testified that these amounts, unlike the $10,000 used to purchase the Chevy Euros-port in 1987, were loans rather than repayment of David’s father’s notes. This was necessary because the restructuring required David’s father to repay the secured mortgages within the restructuring agreement prior to unsecured notes. Each of these notes was executed by David alone and, similar to his father’s notes, contained no due date or interest rate.

Thus, the marital assets included the cars and trucks, the farm property, and the notes from David’s father. The marital liabilities included the mortgage on the farm property, the balance of the notes to the parties’ children, and the notes to David’s father.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
597 N.E.2d 1230, 232 Ill. App. 3d 746, 174 Ill. Dec. 18, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1204, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-moll-illappct-1992.