In Re the Marriage of Wells

850 P.2d 694, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 603, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 327, 1993 WL 106765
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedApril 12, 1993
Docket92SC113
StatusPublished
Cited by213 cases

This text of 850 P.2d 694 (In Re the Marriage of Wells) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado 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 Wells, 850 P.2d 694, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 603, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 327, 1993 WL 106765 (Colo. 1993).

Opinions

Justice ERICKSON

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to review In re Marriage of Wells, 833 P.2d 797 (Colo.App.1991). The court of appeals reversed the trial court’s supplemental property division [695]*695order which awarded the petitioner, Judith Wells (Wife), her Public Employee Retirement Association (PERA) benefits and canceled a $7,500 note it had previously ordered the respondent, Curtis Wells (Husband), to pay to the Wife. The issue in this ease is whether, following remand to redistribute marital property, the trial court may consider changed circumstances of the wife and husband between the date of the dissolution decree and the date of the post-decree hearing to redistribute the marital property in entering a supplemental order dividing marital property. The answer to this question is yes, and we therefore reverse and remand the case to the court of appeals with directions to reinstate the trial court’s supplemental property division order.

I

The twenty-four year marriage of the parties ended with a decree of dissolution of marriage on February 13, 1987. On July 7, 1987, the trial court held a permanent orders hearing and entered an order dividing the marital property of the couple. In making the property division, the trial court considered only that portion of the Wife’s PERA account representing her contributions to the plan. Based on this valuation, the trial court awarded the Wife her PERA benefits. On appeal, the court of appeals reversed the trial court’s order and remanded for redetermination in light of our decision in In re Marriage of Grubb, 745 P.2d 661 (Colo.1987).1

On remand, the trial court addressed the meaning of section 14-10-113(l)(c), 6B C.R.S. (1987), which provides that the court is to consider, as a relevant factor in dividing marital property, the “economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the division of property is to become effective.” The trial court interpreted the phrase to mean that it could accept and consider evidence relating to the changed circumstances of the parties during the period of time between the original property division order and the supplemental property division order.2 Based on the testimony relating to the parties’ changed economic circumstances, the trial court awarded the Wife her PERA benefits and canceled a $7,500 note it had previously ordered the Husband to pay to the Wife.

The Husband appealed the trial court’s supplemental property division order to the court of appeals. He contended that the trial court erred in considering the changed economic circumstances of the parties. The Husband claimed that the trial court was allowed to consider the economic circumstances only as they existed at the time of the original property division order. The court of appeals agreed with the Husband, holding “that the disposition of property must be based upon the conditions that exist as of the date of the decree, even if it is not determined or implemented until a later date.” Wells, 833 P.2d at 799. [696]*696We hold that section 14-10-113(l)(c) requires a trial court to consider the economic circumstances of the respective spouses at the time any hearing relating to the division of marital property is held, including a hearing following a remand for the purpose of dividing the property between the parties.

II

The Husband contends that the trial court erred in interpreting the language of section 14-10-113(l)(c) to permit consideration of the changed economic circumstances of the parties at the time of the hearing on remand. The Husband claims that the phrase “at the time the division of property is to become effective” contained in section 14-10-113(l)(c) allows a trial court to address the economic circumstances of the parties only as of the date of the original property division hearing, and prohibits a trial court from considering the changed economic circumstances of the parties at a subsequent permanent orders hearing held in accordance with an order of remand from an appellate court. We disagree.

A

In 1971, Colorado adopted the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act, sections 14-10-101 to -133, 6B C.R.S. (1987 & 1992 Supp.), substantially based on the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (Uniform Act) as approved by the National Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1970.3 Section 14-10-113, 6B C.R.S. (1987), of the Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act is entitled “Disposition of Property.”4 Section 14-10-113 is adapted from section 307 of the Uniform Act, although the two sections are not identical.5 In this case, because the two sections are not identical, we look to general rules governing statutory interpretation, as well as to other jurisdictions that have adopted the Uniform Act. See In re Marriage of Cargill, 843 P.2d 1335, 1338 (Colo.1993) (stating that while uniform statutes should be construed to bring uniformity to the law in the various states, there are other factors to consider including the intent of the General Assembly).

B

The Husband claims that, in this case, the court of appeals remand order is merely a correction of an error that occurred at the time the decree was initially entered, and that the trial court therefore erred in considering additional evidence relating to the parties changed economic circumstances. The husband, however, concedes that the trial court properly considered the economic circumstances of each spouse up [697]*697to July 7, 1987.6 In essence, the Husband claims that a trial court may only consider the economic circumstances of the parties up to the time it first addresses and rules on the question of the equitable distribution of property. Once that initial order is entered, he claims, any subsequent hearings on the issue are merely corrections of errors committed by the trial court in the first proceeding. We disagree with the husband’s interpretation of the statutory language.

The phrase “economic circumstances of each spouse at the time the division of property is to become effective” in section 14-10-113(l)(c) implies that an order of the trial court is necessary to effectuate the equitable division of the property. Final orders and judgments of trial courts are fully effective when they are entered, subject only to the possibility that they may be modified or reversed on the court’s own motion, on the motion of the parties, or by an order of an appellate court. See In re Marriage of Jones, 627 P.2d 248, 253 (Colo.1981) (holding' that a property division that has become final is not subject to modification unless the court finds the existence of conditions that justify the reopening of the judgment); In re Marriage of Scheuerman, 42 Colo.App. 206, 207-08, 591 P.2d 1044, 1046 (1979) (same); cf. Davidson Chevrolet, Inc. v. City & County of Denver, 138 Colo. 171, 175, 330 P.2d 1116

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850 P.2d 694, 17 Brief Times Rptr. 603, 1993 Colo. LEXIS 327, 1993 WL 106765, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-marriage-of-wells-colo-1993.