In re the Marriage of Krutsinger

914 P.2d 1096, 140 Or. App. 215, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 527
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 17, 1996
Docket94-02-33DO; CA A87802
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 914 P.2d 1096 (In re the Marriage of Krutsinger) 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 Krutsinger, 914 P.2d 1096, 140 Or. App. 215, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 527 (Or. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

RIGGS, P. J.

Husband appeals from a dissolution judgment, assigning error to the court’s award of spousal support and to the property distribution. Wife cross-appeals, assigning error to the amount of child support, to the property distribution and to the award of attorney fees.1 On de novo review, ORS 19.125(3), we modify the judgment on appeal and on cross-appeal.

At the time of trial, husband, age 51, and wife, age 46, had been married 18 years. They have one minor child. Husband owns and operates an insurance business, earning $5,573 per month. Wife worked as a teacher during the early years of the parties’ marriage, but left her employment to assist husband at his insurance agency. There, she worked as a secretary and bookkeeper for 14 years, without a salary. After trial, but before the judgment of dissolution was entered, wife obtained a high school teaching position, earning $2,045 per month.

In its judgment, the trial court ordered husband to pay wife spousal support of $1,500 per month, indefinitely. To secure that obligation, husband was directed to maintain his life insurance policies and either transfer ownership of those policies to wife or name her as the “primary irrevocable beneficiary.” See ORS 107.820 (securing support obligations). The court awarded wife custody of the couple’s daughter and husband was ordered to pay $470.70 per month for child support. The court divided the parties’ marital property, awarding husband the real property, furniture and equipment connected to the insurance agency, an interest in a separate parcel of real property and other assets totaling $112,335.75. Wife received the family residence, a mining claim and cabin, two insurance policies and other assets totaling $111,593.90. The court entered a judgment in favor of wife, in the amount of $370.93, to equalize the property distribution. Finally, wife was awarded $1,000 for attorney fees.

[218]*218In his first assignment of error, husband claims that the spousal support award is excessive in amount and duration. Husband argues that his monthly income is insufficient to cover his court-ordered and personal expenses and that he is simply unable to pay $1,500 per month in spousal support. He further contends that if spousal support is warranted, an indefinite award is not appropriate in this case, because wife is able to maintain a comfortable standard of living on the income she receives from her teaching position. Wife argues that husband’s income is sufficient to cover all of his expenses, including spousal support, and that an indefinite award is necessary to “correct” the discrepancy between their future incomes, because husband’s greater earning capacity is due, in part, to wife’s 14-year effort in helping him to build and maintain his insurance business.

In establishing the proper level of spousal support, we attempt to award “such amount of money for such period of time as it may be just and equitable” for the supporting party to pay. ORS 107.105(l)(d). The amount and duration of support should be set “on terms that are equitable between the parties,” taking into account both need and ability to pay, while furthering “the goal of ending the support-dependency relationship within a reasonable time if that can be accomplished without injustice or undue hardship.” Grove and Grove, 280 Or 341, 353, 571 P2d 477, mod 280 Or 769, 572 P2d 1320 (1977); Christensen and Christensen, 123 Or App 412, 416, 859 P2d 1192 (1993). There are a number of factors that we consider in our determination, including the length of the marriage, the age and health of the parties and their dependents, the parties’ earning capacities and their respective financial obligations. ORS 107.105(l)(d)(A)-(M). Our objective is to enable each party “to achieve an economic standard of living not overly disproportionate to that enjoyed during the marriage, to the extent that is possible.” ORS 107.105(l)(d)(M).

After reviewing the parties’ respective incomes and expenses, we conclude that it is just and equitable for husband to pay $1,000 per month in spousal support. However, that amount of support should not continue for an indefinite period of time. Wife has obtained full-time employment, demonstrating that she is capable of self-support. Although wife [219]*219was unable to obtain an initial salary credit for her previous teaching experience, due to her absence from that profession, her income will increase and the evidence indicates that, over time, she will be able to maintain a standard of living “not overly disproportionate” to that enjoyed during the marriage. ORS 107.105(l)(d)(E); Jenkins and Jenkins, 98 Or App 699, 780 P2d 786 (1989). Accordingly, in order to ease wife’s transition to financial independence and to compensate her for the initial reduction in her earning capacity, wife is entitled to spousal support for a period of five years, commencing October 15,1994. Christensen, 123 Or App at 417. Husband’s income is likely to remain higher than wife’s; however, the pin-pose of spousal support is not to equalize the parties’ incomes. Ley and Ley, 133 Or App 138, 142-43, 890 P2d 440 (1995).

Because we have modified the spousal support award, it will be necessary for the trial court to recalculate the amount of child support on remand and to reconsider its decision ordering husband to maintain life insurance to cover the spousal support award. Should the court find that the support obligation still needs to be secured, it shall specifically identify which policy or policies are to be held for that purpose and for what period of time they are to be maintained.

Husband’s remaining assignment of error concerns one aspect of the marital property distribution.2 Husband contends that the court erroneously attributed the full value of a parcel of real property to him when, in fact, he shares ownership of the parcel equally with a third party. Wife does not dispute the extent of husband’s interest. The trial court found the full value of the parcel to be $28,000; therefore, we reduce the total amount of husband’s property award by $14,000 to reflect his half interest.

Turning to wife’s cross-appeal, we write only to address the property distribution and attorney fee issues. Wife first argues that the trial court erred when it declined to [220]*220assign any intangible or “goodwill” value to husband’s insurance business and attributed no value to his retirement benefits. We affirm that part of the trial court’s decision without discussion.

Wife next argues that she should not have been awarded the mining claim and cabin, which the court valued at $4,000. The 20-acre claim, located on public land near the marital residence, was willed to husband by a family friend.

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914 P.2d 1096, 140 Or. App. 215, 1996 Ore. App. LEXIS 527, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-krutsinger-orctapp-1996.