Marriage of Kreidler v. Kreidler

348 N.W.2d 780, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3101
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMay 1, 1984
DocketCX-83-1557
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 348 N.W.2d 780 (Marriage of Kreidler v. Kreidler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marriage of Kreidler v. Kreidler, 348 N.W.2d 780, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3101 (Mich. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

HUSPENI, Judge.

David Kreidler appeals from those provisions of the marriage dissolution decree involving division of real and personal property, allocation of indebtedness between the parties, and the court’s use of the child support guidelines in Minn.Stat. § 518.-551(5) (Supp.1983) to establish the amount of child support. We affirm.

FACTS

The parties were married in December, 1972. The marriage was dissolved on September 8, 1983. One son, nine years old at the time of the dissolution, was born of the marriage. Both parties had been married previously and had other children. One of the wife’s children was still a minor at the time of this dissolution.

The parties’ homestead was owned by the wife before this marriage. In June, 1978, the parties sold the land at the homestead site for $46,000, and moved the house to its current location. The profits from the sale were reinvested in the costs of moving the house, constructing a foundation, general site improvement, refurnishing the home, and paying off the mortgage. The wife had the home appraised at $84,-000 at the time of the dissolution.

The husband is employed with the Duluth Water and Gas Department. His net monthly income from that job is $1,454.65. At the time of the dissolution, his twenty-year interest in a retirement pension with the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) was valued at $59,837.81. One half of this value accrued before the marriage.

The husband has additional income from rental properties he inherited during the marriage. In 1982 he received $775 per month from these properties.

The wife is unemployed and did not work outside the home throughout the marriage. During the pendency of the dissolution proceedings, her mother died and she inherited $100,000. She also receives $500 per month on a $28,000 balance due her parents on a stock sale. This will continue for five and one-half years.

During their marriage, the parties purchased a 1976 Winnebago motor home. The wife had the motor home appraised at $13,000. The parties incurred debts on five charge accounts in the total amount of $4,633.53. Payments thereon were kept current.

The trial court granted custody of the minor child to the wife. She was awarded the homestead and the household goods in her possession. The husband was awarded his rental properties, the motor home, all rights in his PERA pension, and the household goods in his possession. The court ordered husband to pay the debts of the parties, but applied the 1982 income tax refunds (incorrectly referred to in the judgment and decree as the 1983 refunds) of $2,180.19 to these debts, thus reducing their balance to approximately $2,500.

ISSUES

1. Whether the trial court appropriately applied Minnesota law in the division of real and personal property.

2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding substantial household goods to the wife while ordering the husband to be responsible for indebtedness on those goods.

3. Whether the trial court appropriately applied Minnesota law in setting child support.

ANALYSIS

1. A trial court has broad discretion in the division of property. Taylor v. Taylor, 329 N.W.2d 795 (Minn.1983). The decision will be affirmed if it has a “reasonable and acceptable basis in fact and princi- *783 pie”. DuBois v. DuBois, 335 N.W.2d 503, 507 (Minn.1983).

The husband contends that the trial court was inconsistent in the determination of marital versus non-marital property. Marital property is defined as “property, real or personal ... acquired by the parties ... at any time during the existence of a marriage relationship .... All property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage ... is presumed to be marital property”. Minn.Stat. § 518.54(5) (1982). The presumption is overcome if property is shown to be: (a) a gift or inheritance to one spouse only, (b) acquired before the marriage, or (c) “acquired in exchange for or is the increase in value of property which is described in clauses (a), (b)”. Minn.Stat. § 518.54(5) (1982).

The trial court did not use the terms marital or non-marital in its findings regarding the property distribution. However, it did indicate its position by stating in the findings that the wife “owns” the home, the husband “owns” the two income properties, they were the “owners” of the motor home, and that husband “has a retirement program”.

The husband argues that the award of the homestead to the wife does not consider his financial contributions of his employment income, labor, and a small inheritance. When significant improvements are made to a home, its entire value reflects those additions as well as the initial investment. Faus v. Faus, 319 N.W.2d 408, 412 (Minn.1982). The parties kept a joint checking account and it is impossible to trace exactly which income was spent on which items. It is clear, that the profits from the sale of the wife’s original homestead were reinvested in the home. It is also likely that some portion of the husband’s income went into maintenance, improvements, or mortgage payments before the home was moved.

The husband is entitled to credit for his contribution to the homestead. His wife’s interest in the second homestead is measured by the proportion her interest in the first homestead bears “to the purchase price of the second house multiplied by the value of the second house at the date of separation”. Schmitz v. Schmitz, 309 N.W.2d 748, 750 (Minn.1981). Since we do not know the exact purchase price of the second home (the price of the lot, the improvements, and the moving costs), we cannot calculate an accurate value. It is clear, however, that the majority of the value is attributable to the wife’s original ownership of the home and the profits from the sale of the land.

The husband further contends that the motor home was purchased with profits from the sale of one of his rental properties, a non-marital asset, and should be treated as a non-marital asset. Although the motor home was awarded to him, he suggests it was intended to offset his interest in the homestead, and therefore was treated as a marital asset.

The wife’s testimony regarding the motor home confirms that it was purchased with the rental property profits. There is no Minnesota law addressing whether the income from non-marital assets is marital or non-marital property. At least one state with similar statutory language has decided that it does become marital property. Reed v. Reed, 100 Ill.App.3d 873, 56 Ill.Dec. 202, 427 N.E.2d 282 (1981). Under the facts of this case, we need not reach the issue of whether the motor home was treated by the trial court as marital or non-marital property. The motor home was awarded to the husband.

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Bluebook (online)
348 N.W.2d 780, 1984 Minn. App. LEXIS 3101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriage-of-kreidler-v-kreidler-minnctapp-1984.