In re the Marriage of Roger

28 P.3d 1264, 175 Or. App. 540, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1153
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 1, 2001
Docket98-DO-0458-ST; A106297
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 28 P.3d 1264 (In re the Marriage of Roger) 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 Roger, 28 P.3d 1264, 175 Or. App. 540, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1153 (Or. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

SCHUMAN, J.

In this dissolution, the trial court awarded wife spousal and child support, plus, upon the death of husband’s father, “33 1/3% of any * * * proceeds” of husband’s interest in his family’s trust, “the exact terms and assets of which have not been disclosed.” Husband assigns error to the support awards and the property division. We affirm the trial court’s support awards without discussion and write only to address the trial court’s treatment of husband’s supposed interest in his family’s trust. We review de novo, ORS 19.415(3), vacate the trial court’s disposition of the supposed trust proceeds, and otherwise affirm.

According to husband, the Roger Family Trust was established in 1993 and has been amended several times. The only version admitted in evidence, however, was the Third Amended Roger Family Trust, executed in 1996 when both of husband’s parents were living. This version was a revocable trust that provided $200,000 for the parties’ two children, but “specifically and intentionally disinherit[ed]” husband. After husband’s mother died, however, the parties came to believe that husband had been, in his terms, “rein-herited” by an amended “revocable trust.” This amended trust was the main subject of the trial court’s property division. The court ruled:

“[Husband] is the beneficiary of a family trust, the exact terms and assets of which have not been disclosed to [husband]. * * * Because the trust was created during the marriage, [husband’s] interest therein is a marital asset subject to the rebuttable presumption of equal contribution. The court finds that the rebuttable presumption has not been overcome * * *. The court hereby awards [wife] 33 1/3% of any family trust proceeds which [husband] receives from the trust upon the death of [husband’s] father. The following cap shall be placed upon [wife’s] right to receive funds from the trust: She will receive 33 1/3% of all distributions received by [husband] after his father’s death up to one-third of the value of the trust as it was on the date of this dissolution decree.”

On appeal, husband assigns error to this ruling. Specifically, he argues that he

[543]*543“has an expectancy to receive an unspecified percentage of the corpus of a revocable living trust established by his still living father. Since this property was not owned by either party during the marriage, it is beyond the authority of the Court to order its division in the dissolution proceeding. Although there is no Oregon law directly on point, related Oregon precedents support the view that this kind of expectancy does not constitute property until husband’s father dies. The uniform law in every other state which has considered the issue is that such uncertain expectancies may not be divided by a court in a dissolution proceeding.”

Wife counters:

“Husband’s interest in his father’s trust is similar to an interest in an unvested pension or an unliquidated claim for damages of unknown value, both of which the court has clear authority to divide in a dissolution. Oregon cases to the contrary cited by husband are not relevant in the context of this dissolution because wife was not seeking a present distribution of the value of the trust, but only a share in the future distribution.”

Although the parties presume that the issue before us is whether, under Oregon law, a spouse’s interest in a revocable trust is property for purposes of division upon dissolution, the threshold issue is whether there is evidence in the record to establish that this interest in this trust is marital property that the court has the authority to divide under ORS 107.105(l)(f) (1997).1 Our review of the record reveals [544]*544the following: The only trust document in evidence unambiguously provided that husband had no interest in the trust and expressly disinherited him. Husband and wife believed that, after the death of husband’s mother, husband’s father amended the trust to give husband an interest. Husband testified as follows:

“A * * * I was then told that there is this other phantom document out there that has reinherited me. * * *
“But I said, Well, what are the terms of that?’ Which I guess is now getting to your question. He said, ‘It’s based on a complicated formula, that after the first trustor dies in a revocable living trust it is split on paper 50-50. It is split into an ‘A’ and a ‘B.’ And because the $600,000.00 exemption applies, 600,000 will go into the ‘B’ and the balance will go into the ‘A.’ We, meaning your mother and I, have always cared very much for your children, but since you were disinherited that left them out in the wind.’ He never made any mention of [wife].
“He said, ‘So there is a provision in there for their education and support.’ You have discussed that already, 200,000 — 100,000 each. ‘As far as you are concerned there is a complex formula that the attorney and the CPA are working on which will give you “X’ number of dollars out of the ‘A’ trust because there [are] only two beneficiaries in the ‘B’ and the ‘B’ is worth 600,000.’
“Then you have the ‘A’ that is left, which is now what my brother and my father are living off of * * * — as my father now lives with my brother. As that ‘A’ trust goes down in value, because they are taking a lot of money out of that, my percentage is based on that value on the day that my father passes on. So there is [a] specific amount that I’m told.
“Q * * * So you are going to get some amount that may depend on how much it has been depleted by the time of your father’s passing^?]
“A As we all know, it is a revocable living trust. I was disinherited once.
“Q No, the question is, if —
[545]*545“Q — he dies and it is there, there is money there, th[e]n you under —
“Q — some formula have a percentage of it.
“A Correct.
“Q * * * And do you have any idea what the value of the ‘A’ trust is at this point?
“A No. I have no idea.
“Q Have you ever seen any list of assets or anything on it?
“A No. My brother controls all that and I’d be the last person to see that.”
Husband, also testified:
“I did ask my father for a copy of the latest trust showing all of this and he said he would have to talk to my brother. And then I didn’t hear anything. And a few days later I called back [and] he said, ‘I can’t send it to you.’ I said, ‘Why not?’ He said, ‘Don’t argue with me. I can’t.’ And that’s all I know.”2

Additionally, husband stated that, “[t]o this day[,] many questions still exist in my mind why I was never allowed to see it. No one ever sent me that document.”3

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Related

In Re the Marriage of Githens
204 P.3d 835 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
In Re the Marriage of Edwards
149 P.3d 196 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 P.3d 1264, 175 Or. App. 540, 2001 Ore. App. LEXIS 1153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-roger-orctapp-2001.