In Re the Marriage of Simms

871 P.2d 899, 264 Mont. 317, 51 State Rptr. 306, 1994 Mont. LEXIS 81
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 28, 1994
Docket93-110
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 871 P.2d 899 (In Re the Marriage of Simms) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court 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 Simms, 871 P.2d 899, 264 Mont. 317, 51 State Rptr. 306, 1994 Mont. LEXIS 81 (Mo. 1994).

Opinions

[333]*333JUSTICE WEBER

concurs and dissents as follows:

I concur in the majority opinion with regard to Issue I — Is the oral marital settlement agreement entered into between the parties enforceable, and Issue IV — Did the District Court err in establishing a trust for the minor child’s college education? I dissent from Issues II and III.

II — PROPERTY DISTRIBUTION

In reviewing the property distribution as well as the award of maintenance, I find it important to consider the District Court’s findings and conclusions which are summarized as follows in pertinent part:

At the time of hearing Garnet was 52 years old and Arlyn was 55. Both are in good physical health. Garnet is a high school graduate with one year of business school and she completed a word processing class in 1986-87. She currently is employed ten months out of the year as a secretary for the Arlee School District where she earns $9.30 an hour. She has been a homemaker for 33 years. She anticipates minimal inheritance from her parents. Arlyn is a high school graduate who has spent the majority of his life as an operator of heavy equipment and has two years of college. He operates a small cattle ranch at the family home in Arlee. Since the death of his parents he has quit his employment as a heavy equipment operator and spends most of his time at rodeos and doing as he pleases. His total known inheritance is approximately $624,917. It may be greater with additional payments to be received from his father’s ranch. In finding of fact IX, the District Court set forth in detail all of the assets accumulated by both parties during their marriage. Included in this are the following with regard to inheritance on the part of Arlyn:

Inheritance from respondent’s (Arlyn’s) $178,500 mother as of December 1989
Certificates of deposit fromrespondent’s 78,124 grandmother as of December 1989
Known inheritance from father’s estate 368,293
Balance owed on contract due from value unknown sale of father’s land to Simontons & Murdocks
As a result the District Court gave the total approximate value of Arlyn’s assets at $785,805.

[334]*334The court determined Garnet’s monthly living expenses to be $1458. As pointed out in the majority opinion, no deduction was made for the $460 rent figure included in that total. In finding of fact XI the District Court found that Garnet has accumulated only $7291 in her retirement pension fund and that she will need a substantial share of Arlyn’s assets to live comfortably as she gets older; she has little saved for her retirement because of the thirty-plus years she spent working as a homemaker for her husband and five children. She has had to deplete her savings account, money market account and stocks to provide for her basic daily needs. Arlyn has retained the marital home and surrounding acreage as his residence. Garnet has no real property and must pay rent. The District Court found that Garnet “lacks sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs, and she is unable to support herself through appropriate employment.” As to Arlyn, the court found that he could afford to retire because of “the approximate $624,917 plus inheritance money he has received” and because his needs are much less than his total assets and he is capable of providing Garnet with a greater proportion of marital property and maintenance.

In finding of fact XII the court found that after thirty-three years of marriage, raising five children and providing for her husband’s needs, Garnet’s contributions as a homemaker were extensive indeed and that her contributions exceeded the call of duty when she put up with an enormous amount of mental and physical abuse from Arlyn. She maintained the household, cared for the children and was the family’s provider for domestic chores. Since the marital home was a working livestock ranch, she was required to nurse sick calves, vaccinate cattle and help pull calves. She is a hard-working woman who took responsibilities seriously and everything she did served to facilitate the maintenance of the family and the property. Arlyn was a hard-working man who provided for the needs of his family and ran a small marital cattle operation and did the chores and worked on the machinery and kept the ranch going. His non-monetary contributions are less than Garnet’s because he did not provide for the care of the children as did she, nor did he do as much around the family home. However, Arlyn’s efforts and money received from his family did provide a very good standard of living for his family.

In finding of fact XIII the court concluded that Garnet should be awarded the family home in Arlee worth $100,000 and that Arlyn should receive all of his assets accumulated during the course of the marriage currently in his possession less only the family home. This [335]*335would then give assets to Garnet of $123,056 and assets to Arlyn of $685,805.

In finding of fact XIV, the District Court found that Garnet’s net available resources totaled $11,000 per year. As to Arlyn, the court assumed that if he received a rate of 8-10 percent interest on his assets, his annual income would be approximately $40,000. From the tables the District Court computed a monthly support obligation of $154 per month for Garnet and $560 for Arlyn. The court then concluded that an appropriate child support payment of $400 per month was not unreasonable and that it was fair and equitable to require Arlyn to pay $400 per month for Kat/s support. There is no appeal from this determination.

In finding of fact XV, the court pointed out that with Garnet’s net available resources of $916 per month, she lacks sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs and is unable to support herself through appropriate employment. The court further determined that if a cash settlement is not awarded, she should receive a maintenance award in the amount of $900 per month. The maintenance amount would provide her with $10,800 per year which added to her wages of $11,000 would provide her with $21,800 per year which would provide for her reasonable needs. The court further pointed out that after thirty-three years of marriage she is entitled to maintenance because of the long duration of the marriage and being 52 years of age, although she is not elderly, she is at an age where it is difficult to begin training for a better paying job.

While the majority opinion refers to § 40-4-202, MCA, it concludes it is clear that the District Court failed to give appropriate consideration to the statutory factors when it awarded Garnet the entire value ofthe major marital asset (the family home) simply because of Arlyn’s receipt of a substantial post-separation inheritance. The majority states:

Here, the District Court’s award of the entire value of the marital home to Garnet without credit to Arlyn was clearly an abuse of discretion. We hold that the District Court erred in failing to award Arlyn any credit for or portion of the family home merely on the basis of his receipt of the post-separation inheritance, and we reverse and remand for further consideration of the property distribution in this case.

I disagree with the majority’s conclusion and holding. I conclude that the majority has failed to consider all of the appropriate code [336]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
871 P.2d 899, 264 Mont. 317, 51 State Rptr. 306, 1994 Mont. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-simms-mont-1994.