In Re Marriage of Tutor

956 N.E.2d 588, 353 Ill. Dec. 726
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 26, 2011
Docket2-10-0187
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 956 N.E.2d 588 (In Re Marriage of Tutor) 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 Tutor, 956 N.E.2d 588, 353 Ill. Dec. 726 (Ill. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

956 N.E.2d 588 (2011)
353 Ill. Dec. 726

In re MARRIAGE OF Terry TUTOR, Petitioner-Appellee, and
Brian Tutor, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 2-10-0187.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

August 26, 2011.

*590 Stephen M. Cooper, Peter M. Storm, Philip J. Piscopo, Cooper, Storm & Piscopo, Geneva, for Brian Tutor.

James A. Murphy, Grant S. Wegner, Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC, Joliet, for Terry Tutor.

OPINION

Justice McLAREN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Respondent, Brian Tutor, appeals an order awarding petitioner, Terry Tutor, postjudgment interest for Brian's failure to make timely payments he owed Terry for her share of the parties' marital estate. On appeal, Brian argues that (1) the trial court erred by granting the petition for postjudgment interest, because the parties entered into a settlement agreement that did not provide for interest on the marital property debt; (2) the trial court violated the agreed bankruptcy order by imposing interest on a nondischarged debt; (3) the trial court erred by failing to dismiss Terry's petition for postjudgment interest because it was barred by res judicata; (4) Brian was in full compliance with the agreed bankruptcy order; and (5) Terry was guilty of laches by failing to file a petition for interest for more than two years following the entry of the agreed bankruptcy order. We affirm.

¶ 2 I. FACTS

¶ 3 On June 23, 2004, after a bench trial, the trial court entered a judgment of dissolution of marriage between the parties. Article 5.1C of the judgment provided:

"[Terry] shall receive a lump sum payment in the amount of $88,929.73 within 60 days of the date of this order which represents her 65% share of the remaining marital estate of $165,443.51 after $28,628.55 has been paid from the marital estate to pay off the marital debts."

Brian failed to pay Terry within 60 days of the date of the entry of the judgment of dissolution of marriage.

¶ 4 On August 24, 2004, Brian filed for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On January 5, 2005, Terry filed an adversary complaint in bankruptcy court, asking the court to declare that Brian's marital property debt owed to Terry was nondischargeable.

¶ 5 On February 7, 2007, the bankruptcy court entered an agreed order stating that the marital property debt was nondischargeable. The bankruptcy court then ordered that "the Debtor, Brian Tutor, shall satisfy the debt due and owing to [Terry] as follows":

(1) from February 15, 2007, through January 15, 2008, $300 per month, in addition to maintenance;
(2) from February 15, 2008, $500 per month, until maintenance is terminated; and
(3) from the termination of maintenance until the marital property debt is paid in full, $1,800 per month.

All monthly payments were due on or before the fifteenth of the month. The agreed bankruptcy order also provided the following:

"In the event the Defendant, Brian Tutor fails to make any payment within 10 days of the date any installment payment hereunder is due, the terms and provision of this order providing for installment *591 payments be and are hereby terminated instanter and Plaintiff, Terry Tutor, upon notice, shall be entitled to appear before the Circuit Court of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, Kendall County, Illinois to seek immediate enforcement of the terms and provisions of Article 5.1C of the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage."

¶ 6 On April 24, 2007, the bankruptcy court entered a discharge order. On April 9, 2009, Terry filed in the trial court a petition seeking postjudgment interest from the date of the entry of the agreed bankruptcy order due to "delay in paying the judgment." Brian filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Terry's petition was barred by res judicata, accord and satisfaction, the bankruptcy court's discharge order, the agreed bankruptcy order, and laches. The trial court denied Brian's motion to dismiss.

¶ 7 On January 26, 2010, after hearing arguments of counsel, the trial court granted Terry's petition for postjudgment interest calculated pursuant to section 2-1303 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-1303 (West 2010)).

¶ 8 Brian filed this timely appeal.

¶ 9 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 10 We will not disturb a trial court's award of postjudgment interest absent an abuse of discretion. See In re Marriage of Polsky, 387 Ill.App.3d 126, 141, 326 Ill.Dec. 237, 899 N.E.2d 454 (2008). A trial court abuses its discretion where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. In re Marriage of O'Brien, 393 Ill.App.3d 364, 382, 332 Ill.Dec. 242, 912 N.E.2d 729 (2009).

¶ 11 A. The Agreed Bankruptcy Order

¶ 12 On appeal, Brian first argues that the trial court erred by granting Terry's petition for postjudgment interest because nothing in the agreed bankruptcy order obligated Brian to pay Terry interest on the marital property debt.

¶ 13 An agreed order is not a judicial determination of the parties' rights; it is a recitation of an agreement between the parties and is subject to the rules of contract interpretation. Advance Iron Works, Inc. v. ECD Lincolnshire Theater, L.L.C., 339 Ill.App.3d 882, 887, 274 Ill.Dec. 539, 791 N.E.2d 631 (2003). When construing a contract, the primary objective is to give effect to the intent of the parties. Gallagher v. Lenart, 226 Ill.2d 208, 232, 314 Ill.Dec. 133, 874 N.E.2d 43 (2007). The plain and ordinary meaning of the language of the contract is the best indication of the intent of the parties. Gallagher, 226 Ill.2d at 233, 314 Ill.Dec. 133, 874 N.E.2d 43. A court may not add to a contract terms that the parties have not expressly included. Chatham Corp. v. Dann Insurance, 351 Ill.App.3d 353, 359, 285 Ill.Dec. 663, 812 N.E.2d 483 (2004). Waiver is the "intentional relinquishment of a known right" and must be explicit. Gallagher, 226 Ill.2d at 229, 314 Ill.Dec. 133, 874 N.E.2d 43.

¶ 14 In Borrowman v. Prastein, 356 Ill. App.3d 546, 550, 292 Ill.Dec. 459, 826 N.E.2d 600 (2005), the appellate court held that a contract's silence on the issue of a workers' compensation lien meant that the employer chose to waive any such lien. In Harder v. Kelly, 369 Ill.App.3d 937, 939, 308 Ill.Dec. 342, 861 N.E.2d 673 (2007), this court disagreed with Borrowman. In Harder, the trial court ruled, based on Borrowman, that an employer waived its workers' compensation lien even though the settlement agreement was silent regarding the issue. Harder, 369 Ill.App.3d at 939, 308 Ill.Dec.

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Bluebook (online)
956 N.E.2d 588, 353 Ill. Dec. 726, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-tutor-illappct-2011.