In re the Marriage of Ross

231 S.W.3d 877, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 1230, 2007 WL 2579974
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 10, 2007
DocketNo. 28140
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 231 S.W.3d 877 (In re the Marriage of Ross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals 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 Ross, 231 S.W.3d 877, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 1230, 2007 WL 2579974 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

GARY W. LYNCH, Chief Judge.

James F. Ross (“Husband”) appeals from the judgment of the trial court dissolving his marriage to Jana Kay Ross (“Wife”). The court divided the parties’ marital property and allocated them debts, awarded Wife $1,200.00 per month in non-modifiable maintenance, and ordered Husband to pay her $600.00 per month in child support. Husband argues on appeal that the trial court erred in: (1) making an unequal division of the marital property; (2) awarding maintenance without sufficient supporting evidence of Wife’s monthly expenses and reasonable needs; and (3) ordering him to pay child support without first finding and articulating for the record the presumed child support amount in accordance with Form 14. We affirm the trial court’s division of marital property, and reverse and remand the awards of maintenance and child support.

(1) Factual and Procedural Background

Husband and Wife were married on September 6, 1985, in Matthews, New Madrid County, Missouri. Two children were born of the marriage. At the time of the dissolution proceeding, one child was a minor and the other was emancipated. Throughout the entire twenty years of marriage, Wife, who had only an eighth grade education, was not employed outside the home. She cared for the children and the marital home full-time while Husband attended college for three years and [880]*880worked as a lab technician at Associated Electric for the last ten years before the separation. Husband and Wife separated in September of 2005. Eight days later, Husband filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. Wife filed an answer to Husband’s petition in which she agreed the marriage was irretrievably broken. Wife also filed a counter-petition for dissolution of marriage requesting sole custody of the minor child, as well as maintenance and child support. In its Judgment and Decree of Dissolution of Marriage, the trial court dissolved the marriage, divided the marital property and allocated the debts between the parties, awarded joint legal custody of the minor child to the parties with sole physical custody going to Wife, ordered Husband to pay to Wife $1,200.00 per month in non-modifiable maintenance, and ordered Husband to pay $600.00 per month in child support for the minor child.

Husband appeals the trial court’s division of property, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in making an unequal and inequitable distribution. Husband also appeals the maintenance award, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in awarding maintenance because Wife did not present any evidence of her monthly expenses and reasonable needs and, thus, did not meet the threshold requirement for an award of maintenance. Finally, Husband appeals the award of child support, arguing the trial court erred in awarding child support without first finding and articulating for the record the presumed child support amount in accordance with Form 14.

1) Division of Marital Property

For ease of analysis we first address Husband’s Point III, in which he attacks the trial court’s unequal division of the parties’ marital property.1 Husband argues it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to divide the property unequally with seventy percent awarded to Wife and thirty percent awarded to Husband. He claims that the application of the factors from section 452.330.1 in this case “does not justify a departure from an equal division, shared enterprise approach.”2 We disagree.

The division of property in a dissolution proceeding is governed by section 452.330. “This statute requires a trial court to follow a two-step procedure: (1) the court must first set aside to each spouse his or her nonmarital property; and (2) then divide the marital property and debts in such proportions as the court deems just.” In re Marriage of Reese, 155 S.W.3d 862, 869-70 (Mo.App.2005). The factors the court must consider in dividing the marital property include:

[881]*881(1) The economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse having custody of any children;
(2) The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
(3) The value of the nonmarital property set apart to each spouse;
(4) The conduct of the parties during the marriage; and
(5) Custodial arrangements for minor children.

Section 452.330.1.

The trial court has broad discretion in dividing property, and it will be reversed on appeal only if it violates the Murphy v. Carrón standard or is so one-sided that it constitutes an abuse of discretion. In re Marriage of Woodson, 92 S.W.3d 780, 785 (Mo. banc 2003). Under the Murphy v. Carron standard, the appellate court must affirm the decision unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). “An abuse of discretion occurs only if the decree is so arbitrary or unreasonable that it indicates indifference and lack of proper judicial consideration.” Woodson, 92 S.W.3d at 785.

(a) Real Property

The record reveals that the parties’ marital property included two pieces of real estate in Matthews, Missouri: (1) the marital home and the lot on which it was located; and (2) a neighboring lot containing a trailer home. When the parties separated in September of 2005, Husband moved out of the marital home and discontinued paying any of its associated expenses. Wife and the minor child remained in the marital home but Wife, who has only an eighth-grade education and has never worked outside the home, did not have a job so she could not pay those expenses. Eventually, before the trial, the house was foreclosed and sold. In its judgment the trial court ordered Husband to pay any remaining deficiency on the home mortgage following the foreclosure. Neither party offered any evidence of the amount of this deficiency.

Wife moved into the neighboring trailer home, and was residing there at the time of the dissolution proceeding. The minor child was residing with another family. The court awarded the trader home and the lot on which it was located to Wife. While neither party presented evidence of the property’s present value, Husband testified that they purchased the property for $20,000.00 in 1998. Wife testified they still owed $6,142.27 on the property. Those figures support an approximate net value of $13,857.73. The court ordered Husband to pay the delinquent payments on the loan at the time of the judgment, which totaled around $430.00. The judgment ordered Wife to hold Husband harmless of any further liability on this indebtedness following the date of the judgment.

(b) Automobiles

The parties owned three automobiles: a 1994 GMC truck; a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am; and a 1997 Aurora. The court awarded the '94 truck, which is Husband’s primary vehicle and is valued at $2,500.00, to Husband.

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Bluebook (online)
231 S.W.3d 877, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 1230, 2007 WL 2579974, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-ross-moctapp-2007.