Johnson v. Johnson

166 N.W.2d 230, 42 Wis. 2d 237, 1969 Wisc. LEXIS 1112
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 1, 1969
Docket191
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 166 N.W.2d 230 (Johnson v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Johnson, 166 N.W.2d 230, 42 Wis. 2d 237, 1969 Wisc. LEXIS 1112 (Wis. 1969).

Opinions

Connor T. Hansen, J.

On this appeal, the plaintiff makes three assertions:

1. The trial court erred in disregarding the law of the case, as set forth in this court’s opinion on rehearing, by refusing to consider the facts stated in the demand for admission of facts.

2. The property division of 10 percent of the trust assets and income to the plaintiff and 90 percent to the defendant constituted an abuse of discretion by the trial court.

3. Plaintiff is entitled to additional attorney’s fees under the facts of this case.

Demand for admission of facts.

The plaintiff contends that in making the division of the property on remand, the trial court erred by refusing to consider certain facts alleged in the plaintiff’s demand for admission of facts as allegedly required in the previous opinion of this court.1 The demand for admission of facts 2 had been served on the defendant prior to the time the trial court heard the case on the merits.

[240]*240The defendant did not respond to the demand for admission of facts. He withdrew his amended answer and consented to a default judgment on the merits of the divorce. The plaintiff presented a minimum quantum of proof and was granted a divorce.

At a later date, a hearing was held on the division of property and related matters. The plaintiff, relying on sec. 889.22 (3), Stats., insisted that the trial court accept as true the alleged facts previously set forth in the demand for facts. The defendant objected to the plaintiff’s demand on the ground that the merits of the divorce action were not contested, and that the issue now before the court was the division of property. The plaintiff contended that the facts alleged in the demand for admission had a bearing on the property division.

The trial court refused to accept the facts in the demand as true, but gave the plaintiff an opportunity to prove whatever she might concerning the merits as they bear on the division of property. This, the plaintiff declined to do.

In her first appeal, plaintiff claimed the trial court erred in failing to consider the facts demanded to be admitted. Upon denying a motion for rehearing in Johnson v. Johnson, supra, at 314a, this court made the following determination:

“In the instant case the trial court was apprised of the claimed error and chose not to alter its ruling. While this was error and the facts sought to be admitted should have been allowed in evidence, we conclude that the error does not affect the results of the appeal.
“The trial judge stated that he concluded that the defendant was entirely at fault. It is apparent that he made his decision upon this basis, and, of course, must now make the division of property bearing in mind the defendant’s culpability, though not to the extent that the process of property division is used as a club to punish the offending spouse.”

On remand, the trial court declined to let his consideration of the extent of defendant’s fault embrace all of [241]*241the facts contained in plaintiff’s demand for admission of facts:

“Counsel have focused their attention upon the element of fault. The plaintiff has deemed it a compelling consideration in favor of the wife. The court has allowed it to weigh in her favor but not to the extent urged by her counsel. The court has considered the defendant at fault and accordingly granted a divorce to the plaintiff; however, this consideration does not embrace all of the facts contained in the plaintiff’s demand for admission of facts. It must be remembered that the court did not accept the truth of the facts alleged in the demand but afforded the plaintiff the opportunity to prove them, which counsel elected not to do. The record supports no allegation of adulterous conduct on the part of the defendant.”

On this appeal, plaintiff contends that the rule of the case from the Johnson v. Johnson rehearing was to the effect that the trial court must accept the facts stated in the demand to admit facts and include them as part of defendant’s culpability for purposes of the division of property.

Plaintiff has misinterpreted the intent of the decision on the motion for rehearing. While this court did indicate that the trial court erred and that the facts sought to be admitted should have been allowed in evidence, we did not order the trial court to consider those facts. Eather we took cognizance of the fact that the trial court had already adjudged that the defendant was at fault and determined that the trial court should make the division of property bearing in mind defendant’s culpability as the trial court had found it.

Abuse of discretion.

‘The division of property, in a case of this sort, is peculiarly a matter resting in the discretion of the trial court, subject to such rules as have been established by this court for guidance in respect to the matter. There[242]*242fore, the trial determination must prevail unless clearly characterized by mistake or some manifest error respecting the detail facts upon which it rests, or disregard of established guides, amounting to a pretty clear want of judicial discretion or judgment.’ ” Polleck v. Polleck (1959), 8 Wis. 2d 295, 297, 99 N. W. 2d 98.

Nearly all of defendant’s estate (98 percent) was vested in three trusts established prior to his marriage and accumulated through the efforts of his father and grandparents. At the time of the divorce, defendant’s share of the trusts was valued at over $1,200,000.

The plaintiff contends that an award to her of 10 percent of any proceeds, whether principal, income or otherwise, received by the defendant from the three trusts is such a small percentage that it constitutes an abuse of discretion.

In this case we are of the opinion that the actual monetary sums involved are also significant.

In Strandberg v. Strandberg (1967), 33 Wis. 2d 204, 207, 147 N. W. 2d 349, this court stated:

“Among the circumstances of the case which should be taken into consideration are age, health and ability of the parties to earn, the manner in which the estate was accumulated, the conduct of the parties, and length of the marriage.”

In this case the marriage was of six years’ duration. There were two children born of the marriage. At the time of the divorce the plaintiff was twenty-five years and the defendant twenty-eight years of age. The plaintiff was in good health, had a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and was not gainfully employed during the marriage. It appears she had no separate estate.

The defendant is an airline copilot. His salary at the time of the divorce was $550 per month. He testified that his first raise would approximately double his income and would continue to increase possibly to a ceiling of $33,000 per year.

[243]*243The trial court concluded the defendant was entirely at fault. In addressing itself to the division of property, the trial court considered the health of the parties, their respective ages, the shortness of the marriage, and also gave considerable weight to the manner in which the estate was accumulated:

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Johnson v. Johnson
166 N.W.2d 230 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1969)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 N.W.2d 230, 42 Wis. 2d 237, 1969 Wisc. LEXIS 1112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-johnson-wis-1969.