In re the Marriage of Bridge

998 P.2d 780, 166 Or. App. 458, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 617
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 12, 2000
Docket9604325CV; CA A103185
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 998 P.2d 780 (In re the Marriage of Bridge) 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 the Marriage of Bridge, 998 P.2d 780, 166 Or. App. 458, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 617 (Or. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

EDMONDS, P. J.

Wife appeals from a judgment of dissolution of marriage under ORS 107.105, claiming that the trial court erred in dividing the parties’ property according to a prenuptial agreement. Husband cross-appeals, challenging the trial court’s award of spousal support. We dismiss the appeal on jurisdictional grounds, ORS 19.240, and, on de novo review, ORS 19.415(3), vacate the spousal support award on cross-appeal.

At the time of trial, husbánd was 73 years old and wife was 63 years old. The parties married on April 25, 1987, and had been married for ten years at the time of the dissolution. Wife had been married and divorced at least once before, and this was husband’s third marriage. Both parties had grown children from previous marriages. On April 7, 1987, the parties met in husband’s attorney’s office and signed a prenuptial agreement that the attorney had prepared. Although wife was aware of the purpose of the meeting before she went to the attorney’s office and was reminded at that time that she could obtain separate legal counsel, she did not seek counsel. At trial, both parties testified that when they entered into the agreement, they understood that it essentially meant that “what’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine.” The prenuptial agreement provides that “Husband and Wife * * * waive and release any claim for support that may accrue by reason of their marriage that may arise by operation of law upon their marriage.” In December 1988, the parties amended the agreement to provide that “all household furniture and furnishings * * * shall be the property of both parties, each as owners of an undivided one-half interest in such furniture and furnishings, with the right of survivorship to the survivor * * *.”1

The trial court ruled that the prenuptial agreement was entered into in a knowing and voluntary fashion. Nonetheless, the court did not enforce the agreement except to the extent that it awarded each of the parties “all property owned [461]*461respectively by each of them at the time of their marriage” and “all property * * * acquired by each of them from any source during their marriage[.]” In addition to the above awards, the court awarded wife spousal support in the amount of $400 a month for five years “as a matter of public policy.”

Wife filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgment with this court on August 17, 1998. However, the parties dispute whether she properly served the notice of appeal on husband. Husband contends that wife’s service on his trial attorney did not fulfill the statutory requirement that she serve either husband or husband’s counsel of record because the judgment expressly discharged the trial attorney as the attorney of record for husband. Wife asserts that the trial attorney either was the attorney of record at the time of service or, in the alternative, that he became attorney of record within the time allowed for service and, therefore, any error in service was cured.

ORS 19.240(2) provides, in part, that an appeal “shall be taken by causing a notice of appeal * * * to be served” on “all parties who have appeared in the action, suit or proceeding[.]” The merits of an appeal cannot be considered without the proper service of the notice of appeal because service of the notice is jurisdictional. ORS 19.270(2)(a); Murrieta v. Brewster, 328 Or 434, 436, 981 P2d 330 (1999). ORS 19.500 provides that the notice shall be served in the manner provided in ORCP 9 B. ORCP 9 B provides, in relevant part:

“Whenever under these rules, service is required or permitted to be made upon a party, and that party is represented by an attorney, the service shall be made upon the attorney unless otherwise ordered by the court. Service upon the attorney or upon a party shall be made by delivering a copy to such attorney or party, by mailing it to such attorney’s or party’s last known address, or, if the party is represented by an attorney, by telephonic facsimile communication device as provided in section F of this rule.”

As appellant, wife has the burden of alleging and proving service. Mullens v. L. Q. Development, 312 Or 599, 608, 825 P2d 1376 (1992).

[462]*462The judgment that discharged husband’s trial attorney as the attorney of record was entered on August 10,1998. Wife’s counsel certified that he served a copy of the notice of appeal on August 14,1998, by mailing it to the trial attorney. That service was insufficient unless the trial attorney was acting as husband’s attorney at the time. There is no evidence of that fact. Wife points to the fact that the trial attorney filed the cross-appeal on behalf of husband on August 26. However, the fact that the trial attorney represented husband on August 26 does not establish that he represented him on August 14 in light of the established fact that he was not husband’s attorney of record as of August 10. Regarding wife’s alternative argument that the filing of the cross-appeal within the 30 days to appeal constituted service and cured any defect, the record is uncontroverted that at no time when husband’s trial attorney was the attorney of record on the cross-appeal did wife serve him with a notice of appeal that would have satisfied the jurisdictional requirement. On these facts, we conclude that wife has failed to meet her burden of proving service on husband, and we dismiss her appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

On cross-appeal, husband assigns error only to the trial court’s award of spousal support. He argues that the prenuptial agreement barred any spousal support award. In order to address husband’s argument, we must determine whether the prenuptial agreement is enforceable and is relevant to the issues in the dissolution proceeding. See Merrill v. Merrill, 275 Or 653, 656, 552 P2d 249 (1976) (holding that “[t]he validity of a prenuptial agreement and its execution must be interpreted with reference to its specific language and the facts surrounding its execution”).2 As we have already stated, wife knew before the appointment with the attorney that she was going to be asked to sign a prenuptial agreement. The attorney read the agreement to her more than once, including the provision that “Wife acknowledges [463]*463that she has been advised of her right to be represented by separate counsel who would further explain to her the legal effect of this agreement.” In addition, she was told by husband that she could obtain separate legal counsel. Although wife’s health, preparations for the upcoming marriage and the health of a grandchild operated as distractions for her at the time, we are not persuaded that those circumstances prevented her from knowingly entering into the agreement. We have reviewed all of the evidence in the record and find that there is no evidence of fraud or coercion. Rather, the evidence shows that the parties willingly entered into the agreement with the knowledge of its import.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
998 P.2d 780, 166 Or. App. 458, 2000 Ore. App. LEXIS 617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-bridge-orctapp-2000.