In Re: The Marriage of L.R. v. J.R.

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided June 29, 2012·No. 45A04-1110-DR-526·Unpublished

Opinion

Pursuant to Ind.Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before Jun 29 2012, 8:59 am any court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, CLERK of the supreme court,

collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. court of appeals and tax court

APPELLANT PRO SE: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:

LAURA RODRIGUEZ KRISTINA L. GARZA Henderson, Nevada Merrillville, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: )

)

L.R., )

)

Appellant, )

)

vs. ) No. 45A04-1110-DR-526 )

J.R., )

)

Appellee. )

APPEAL FROM THE LAKE CIRCUIT COURT The Honorable Michael A. Sarafin, Magistrate The Honorable George C. Paras, Judge Cause No. 45C01-0911-DR-961

June 29, 2012

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

ROBB, Chief Judge

Case Summary and Issues

The trial court issued its final decree of dissolution of the marriage of J.R.

(“Husband”) and L.R. (“Wife”), ordering Husband to pay $368 per week in child support, dividing the marital property, finding Wife in contempt for willfully violating its provisional order, finding neither Husband nor his counsel in contempt, and ordering the parties to pay their own attorneys’ fees. Wife raises five issues for our review, which we reorder, consolidate, and restate as: 1) whether the trial court erred in finding Wife in contempt; 2) whether the trial court’s child support determination was in error; 3) whether the trial court’s division of marital property was in error; and 4) whether the trial court erred by not finding Husband in contempt or sanctioning his attorney. Concluding the trial court’s conclusions were not in error, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History Husband and Wife were married in 1994 and had four children (“the Children”). In early 2009, Wife spontaneously moved to Nevada and took the Children with her. Husband was not notified of their move until after they arrived in Nevada. In late 2009, Husband filed several documents in an Indiana trial court, including a verified petition for legal separation of marriage. On January 16, 2010, Wife was served with Husband’s verified petition for provisional hearing, verified petition for legal separation of marriage, alias summons, and notice of hearing in proceedings for legal separation. On January 20, 2010, in Nevada, Wife filed for divorce, seeking sole legal custody, primary physical custody, child support from

Husband, spousal support or alimony, division of marital property and debt, attorney’s fees and costs, and various other remedies.

On January 21, 2010, the trial court in Indiana held a provisional hearing and by its January 25, 2010 order, it awarded Husband with temporary, sole custody of the Children; ordered Wife to release the Children into Husband’s care by January 28, 2010, and to begin paying $80.55 per week in child support; and ordered the parties to file their taxes jointly. Wife did not appear for the hearing. Husband subsequently flew to Nevada on January 28, 2010, and attempted to take the Children into his care and return to Indiana. Husband obtained the assistance of the local police department, but Wife refused to release the Children to Husband. Thereafter, on February 9, 2010, a Nevada trial court issued an order granting Wife temporary primary physical custody and joint legal custody of the Children and stating the Nevada trial court would confer with the Indiana trial court regarding jurisdiction.

The Nevada and Indiana trial courts conducted a telephonic conference in March 2010, and sometime thereafter Wife and Husband stipulated that Nevada would maintain jurisdiction over custody and parenting time of the Children and Indiana would have jurisdiction over marital property distribution and child support. The Nevada trial court awarded Wife primary physical custody subject to Husband having parenting time, and the Indiana trial court provisionally ordered Husband to pay child support in the amount of $317 per week, which was based on a weekly gross income of $1,155.85 for Husband and imputed minimum wage income of $290 per week for Wife.

In late 2010, Husband filed a verified petition for contempt citation, requesting the trial court hold Wife in contempt for willfully and deliberately failing to pay indebtedness associated with the parties’ Ford Expedition and for not filing taxes jointly, as the Indiana trial court ordered. Husband also requested the trial court order Wife to reimburse him for attorney’s fees. On February 2, 2011, Wife filed a contempt citation against Husband and his counsel, Kristina Garza, claiming Husband should be held in contempt for an alleged child support arrearage, failing to provide his 2009 and 2010 tax returns as ordered by the Nevada trial court, failing to adhere to all local rules, and arguing Garza should be sanctioned for failing to timely exchange financial declaration forms or attempt to amicably resolve issues with Wife.

In its February 9, 2011 order, the trial court reaffirmed its provisional order regarding division of marital property, ordered Wife to return the parties’ Ford Expedition to Husband within fourteen days, ordered the parties to exchange financial declaration forms in full compliance with the local rules and finish all other discovery by the end of March, continued Husband’s petition for contempt to give Wife an opportunity to return the Ford Expedition, and ordered the parties to attend a mandatory settlement conference hosted by Garza.

In June the parties attended a final hearing, and evidence was submitted summarily, by agreement. In September 2011, the trial court issued its final decree of dissolution of marriage, finding and concluding:

II. Child Support

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11. For purposes of determining Husband’s current child support obligation, based on the evidence before the Court at the Final Hearing, [Husband]’s gross

weekly income is $[1,336.38]1, such amount derived by averaging Husband’s last three (3) years of income from 2008 of $71, 998.00, from 2009 of $53,091.00, and from 2010 of $83,385.98. Such average is equitable in light of the evidence presented of the fluctuations that Husband may experience due to conditions of his employment including fluctuations in work hours, his employer’s policy as to layoff of employees, and productivity and demand associated with the motor vehicles made at the Ford plant at which Husband is employed.

12. In determining Wife’s gross weekly income for purposes of child support, the Court determines that Wife is voluntarily underemployed as she chooses not to work and does not have any disability from preventing her from working [sic]. According to Wife’s testimony, she does not work so that she can provide care for her elderly mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, but there is nothing preventing her working at least part time. Additionally, Wife receives $2,000.00 per month from her mother to pay rent and other household expenses. The Court finds it appropriate to impute minimum wage income to [Wife] in light of her voluntary underemployment and to consider the income [Wife] receives from her own mother as such income substantially reduces Wife’s living expenses and should be considered pursuant to Indiana Child Support Guideline 3(A)(2). Accordingly, for purposes of determining child support, Wife’ [sic] gross weekly income is set at $755.12 comprised of minimum wage income of $290.00 and other income in the amount of $465.12.

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16. Based upon the foregoing and as set forth in the attached Child Support Obligation Worksheet proposed by Husband which the Court now adopts, Husband shall pay to Wife as current child support the amount of $368.00 per week via wage withholding order. If Husband’s current employment is terminated, he shall make such payments through the Clerk of this Court.

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III. Division of Marital Estate

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In Re: The Marriage of L.R. v. J.R., (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

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