In re the Marriage of Budge

945 P.2d 1101, 150 Or. App. 209, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1293
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 24, 1997
Docket94-1626-D-1; CA A91481
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 945 P.2d 1101 (In re the Marriage of Budge) 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 Budge, 945 P.2d 1101, 150 Or. App. 209, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1293 (Or. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

LANDAU, J.

Wife appeals a dissolution judgment, assigning error to the trial court’s property division and its award of spousal support. Husband cross-appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s valuation of certain assets and the award of spousal support. On the appeal, we reverse and remand for entry of a modified judgment concerning the property division and spousal support award and otherwise affirm. On the cross-appeal, we affirm.

At the time of trial, the parties had been married 25 years. Husband was 46, and wife was 45. Their two children are grown and have left home.

Following their marriage in 1970, husband finished college, served in the military and completed an MBA. During those years, wife was a homemaker and provided part-time child care services for others. In 1976, husband’s parents encouraged the parties to move to Medford, so husband could work for his parents’ business, the Budge-McHugh Supply Company (BMSC). They discussed with husband their intention of eventually allowing him to take over the company and, in recognition of their commitment to him, they gave him 825.5 shares of company stock, then worth $33,020. The parties moved to Medford, and, on January 1, 1977, husband began working at BMSC. Wife worked as a full-time homemaker until the children left home.

In February 1980, husband’s parents gave him an additional 100 shares in BMSC, then valued at $5,000. Following that, in December 1984, December 1985, December 1986, December 1992, and February 1993, husband’s parents transferred to him an additional 2,492 shares of company stock, valued at the times of transfer at a total of $494,900. The testimony of husband’s parents makes clear that those transfers were part of an estate plan to distribute assets to their children with minimal tax consequences.1 The total [212]*212value of the shares in BMSC at the time of trial was stipulated to be $1,191,307.50. The stock, however, was not readily transferable, it generated no dividends, and the parties made no plans for its ultimate disposition beyond eventual transfer to their children.

Meanwhile, husband’s parents made plans to transfer other assets to husband and his two sisters, Barbara and Donna. In particular, husband’s parents made plans to transfer assets from the Budge-McHugh Joint Venture (Joint Venture), which owns a substantial amount of real estate that is leased to BMSC. To facilitate the transfer of the real property, in 1982, husband and his two sisters formed the BDL partnership (BDL). Real property was transferred from husband’s parents to BDL over the course of the next several years. Husband and wife did not take any distribution from BDL during their marriage, although they did pay taxes on income imputed to husband from the partnership. Both parties testified that the interest in BDL was considered an investment for their retirement or some other use later in life. The value of husband’s interest in BDL at the times of transfer was $40,000; its value at the time of trial was $275,147.10.

Beginning in 1988, husband’s parents also transferred to their children interests in the Joint Venture itself. The evidence is undisputed that the parents did so as part of their estate plan to take advantage of the tax-free gift allowance. There was no evidence that wife influenced those gifts or that they were connected to husband’s employment at BMSC. The value of husband’s interest in the Joint Venture at the times of the transfer was $120,212, and its value did not appreciate during the marriage. As with husband’s interest in BDL, husband and wife did not receive any money from the Joint Venture during their marriage, although they did pay taxes on imputed income attributable to husband’s interest. And, as with husband’s interest in BDL, the parties treated the interest in the Joint Venture as an investment for their retirement. The income generated by the Joint Venture, in fact, was transferred to BDL.

The parties also accumulated a substantial quantity of other assets, including $51,892 in a Dain Bosworth [213]*213account, $68,725 in bonds, $163,191 in equity in the family residence, four motor vehicles, an airplane, a Lake Tahoe timeshare unit, undeveloped real property, retirement plans valued at approximately $290,000, a separate military retirement account valued at approximately $50,000, and jewelry and other household goods, including $80,000 in guns.

At the time of trial, husband was employed at BMSC and served in the Air Force Reserves. He earned approximately $14,750 per month. Wife has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and had taken courses in pursuit of a master’s degree. In 1989, she went to work as a bookkeeper and has continued to work at that job since. At the time of trial, she earned approximately $1,000 per month, although the trial court found that she had the capacity to earn as much as $1,800 per month. Wife’s earnings do not include benefits.

The trial court awarded wife the equity in the family residence, the bonds, the Dain Bosworth account, two of the motor vehicles, the jewelry and most of the household goods, other than the guns. The court awarded husband the undeveloped real estate, his military retirement account, two of the vehicles and the guns. The trial court ordered that the parties split the value of the remaining retirement plans, the airplane and the Lake Tahoe timeshare unit. The court also awarded husband the BMSC stock and the interests in BDL and the Joint Venture, but also ordered that wife was entitled to half of the appreciation in the value of those assets after they were received. The court then ordered an “equalizing” judgment of $378,438. It further ordered husband to pay spousal support in the amount of $3,500 per month for eight months, followed by $2,725 per month until the equalizing judgment has been paid, followed by an indefinite award of $535 per month. The trial court found that, once the equalizing judgment has been paid, and taking into account the award to her of the bonds and the Dain Bosworth account, wife should have sufficient liquid assets to provide her with an adequate income.

On appeal, wife first assigns error to the trial court’s decision to split only the appreciation in the value of the BMSC stock and husband’s interests in BDL and the Joint [214]*214Venture. She argues that husband failed to rebut the presumption of equal contribution as to those assets and that, in any event, it is just and equitable to order that the full value of those assets — not just their appreciation — be divided equally. Husband argues that he did rebut the presumption of equal contribution as to those assets in the light of the evidence that each was given to him as part of his parents’ estate plan and that wife in no way contributed to their acquisition.

ORS 107.105(l)(f) governs the division of property in a marital dissolution and provides, in part:

“The court shall consider the contribution of a spouse as a homemaker as a contribution to the acquisition of marital assets. There is a rebuttable presumption that both spouses have contributed equally to the acquisition of property during the marriage, whether such property is jointly or separately held.”

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92 P.3d 100 (Oregon Supreme Court, 2004)
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Matter of Marriage of Wilson
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Bluebook (online)
945 P.2d 1101, 150 Or. App. 209, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1293, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-budge-orctapp-1997.