In re Marriage of Rodriguez-Herrera and Perez

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 6, 2026
Docket128159
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re Marriage of Rodriguez-Herrera and Perez (In re Marriage of Rodriguez-Herrera and Perez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas 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 Rodriguez-Herrera and Perez, (kanctapp 2026).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 128,159

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

In the Matter of the Marriage of DULCE E. RODRIGUEZ-HERRERA, Appellee,

and

ANTONIO PEREZ, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Ford District Court; SIDNEY R. THOMAS, judge. Submitted without oral argument. Opinion filed February 6, 2026. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded with directions.

Peter J. Antosh, of Garcia & Antosh, LLP, of Dodge City, for appellant.

Sarah Doll Heeke, of Doll Law Firm LLC, of Dodge City, for appellee.

Before ARNOLD-BURGER, P.J., MALONE and BOLTON FLEMING, JJ.

PER CURIAM: Antonio Perez (Husband) appeals the district court's division of property as part of a divorce proceeding. Husband believes the district court's property disposition was not supported by substantial competent evidence. Because we find that the district court failed to take into consideration that Husband sold an asset included in the property distribution findings before the property valuation date and also failed to consider subsequent payments made on one of the debts, we reverse the district court's property distribution, and remand to the district court to correct the two noted errors. All other rulings are affirmed.

1 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In early May 2020, Dulce Rodriguez-Herrera (Wife) filed for divorce from Husband. This appeal deals only with the division of property by the district court. The briefed issues related to custody of the children and child support were mutually resolved in advance of this court's decision.

Husband's automobile repair business was the couple's main source of income, as well as his "hobby" of buying and selling vehicles. Husband often co-mingled his personal and business assets, particularly the vehicles he purchased and sold. The parties agreed that a valuation date of May 5, 2020, would be used for property distribution.

Upon the filing of Wife's petition, the district court entered temporary orders only two of which are at issue here. The court ordered Husband to pay Wife $500 per month of spousal maintenance, beginning in June 2020. And the court granted Wife "temporary use and exclusive possession" of a "2015 Mercedes Benz ML250" owned by Husband, ordering him to "immediately turn the vehicle and any keys over to [Wife]." Relevant to this obligation, the court's temporary order contained the following general provisions:

"14. The parties are restrained and enjoined from canceling any utility services and/or deposits or canceling or modifying (including changing, adding, or deleting beneficiaries) of any existing pension benefits, IRA's, Keogh plans or any other retirement plans or benefits, profit sharing benefits, employment benefits, medical, health, automobile, homeowner's or renter's, life, or disability insurance coverages or any pay on death and/or transfer on death designees or any other asset owned by either of the parties involving any family members or their property. "15. Until both parties have the opportunity to present their views and evidence, each of the parties are hereby restrained from withdrawing, selling, altering, removing, spending, mortgaging, pledging, encumbering or otherwise disposing of any of their assets except those needed for day to day living expenses and the regular 2 payment of already existing installment indebtedness or in order to comply with the orders of this Court."

In early January 2021, Wife filed a motion seeking contempt orders against Husband, alleging he failed to pay spousal maintenance as required by the temporary orders. Wife also requested an additional monetary sanction against Husband for his noncompliance and for him to pay her resulting attorney fees. The court set a hearing for the next month.

Before that hearing took place, Husband moved to modify the temporary orders to reduce his spousal maintenance obligations. Husband also requested the court "modify the order which requires him to pay all vehicle insurance payments and monthly payments for the 2015 Mercedes." And because he was "financially unable to pay for [Wife]'s bills as well as his own," Husband asserted that "should the court order [him] to make these payments, he should be given credit on the child support worksheet as these payments are essentially spousal maintenance." Husband attached a domestic relations affidavit to his motion reflecting his gross income was only $14,550 per year, as opposed to the $94,605 amount included on Wife's domestic relations affidavit submitted with her divorce petition. Further, Husband requested the matter to be heard at the same time as the contempt hearing.

A bifurcated, three-day evidentiary hearing occurred over three years after the filing of the divorce petition. The only dispute brought forward on appeal centers on the court's property division ruling. In particular, Husband disputes the values of some of the items listed on Wife's proposed property division sheet, as well as their existence on the valuation date.

Husband disputes the following regarding the final court order:

3 VALUATION OF HUSBAND'S CASH ON HAND AS $7,000—Although Wife did not testify on this point, during Husband's cross-examination her attorney introduced into evidence a balance sheet from a loan Husband obtained in September 2022, which showed he had $7,000 "Cash on Hand" and $8,538 "Cash in the Bank" at that time. Husband, however, testified that he had only $400 in cash on hand on the valuation date, with an additional $1,321.39 in his bank account based on a May 2020 bank statement listing his daily ledger balances for that entire month.

VALUATION OF HUSBAND'S VEHICLES—Husband was in the business of buying and selling cars. Wife's proposed property division included a 2005 Volkswagen Jetta valued at $2,156; a 2015 Volkswagen Golf valued at $24,127; a 2017 Honda Civic valued at $19,026; a 2015 Volkswagen Passat valued at $9,901; and a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee valued at $2,592. Husband objected to these values being derived from Kelley Blue Book, but he made no further objection to this testimony.

Husband claimed those five vehicles had much lower values. He testified that he sold the 2005 Volkswagen Jetta in September 2020 for $1,200, providing a copy of the transfer of title form as proof. He added that in the same month, he traded three of the vehicles for a new pickup truck, receiving the following amounts: $21,416 for the 2015 Volkswagen Golf; $4,584 for the 2017 Honda Civic; and $4,000 for the 2015 Volkswagen Passat. As support, he presented the invoice for the purchase. Finally, Husband said he had "no idea" about the 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee because he did not "have that vehicle at the time." He believed it was "a vehicle that I helped a friend to buy . . . way before all this."

OWNERSHIP OF OTHER ASSETS—Wife's proposed property division included a 2008 Load Trail trailer valued at $6,000; a dirt bike valued at $1,000; and a four-wheeler valued at $1,000. Like the other vehicles, Wife testified Husband owned them when they separated—in March 2020. Husband testified he sold the 2008 Load Trail trailer in

4 December 2019 for $900, as shown by a bill of sale for the trailer admitted into evidence. As for the dirt bike and four-wheeler, Husband agreed he sold both items for $1,000 but he denied owning either the dirt bike or the four-wheeler on the valuation date.

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In re Marriage of Rodriguez-Herrera and Perez, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-rodriguez-herrera-and-perez-kanctapp-2026.