Marriage of Stutz v. Stutz

556 N.E.2d 1346, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 939, 1990 WL 105063
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 23, 1990
Docket32A01-8909-CV-366
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 556 N.E.2d 1346 (Marriage of Stutz v. Stutz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marriage of Stutz v. Stutz, 556 N.E.2d 1346, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 939, 1990 WL 105063 (Ind. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

ROBERTSON, Judge.

This appeal from a final decree of dissolution involves primarily four issues: (1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in dividing the marital property; (2) whether the trial court abused its discretion in awarding the parties joint legal custody of the minor child; (8) whether the trial court abused its discretion in ordering the wife to pay $100 per week child support into a trust for the benefit of the minor child; and (4) whether the trial court's order forbidding the parties to discuss the terms of the decree with the minor child denied the petitioner, Joan Stutz, her constitutional right to freedom of speech.

We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The Stutzes were married for twenty-two years, from November 6, 1965 until March 5, 1987, when they separated. Although they had two children, only one, Jennifer, is a minor and unemancipated. She was born on July 20, 1974 and at the time of the hearing on the dissolution petition, would have been a freshman in high school. The trial court issued its findings and decree of dissolution on March 24, 1989.

I.

Property Division

We should note first that the trial court did not assign a value to the parties' various assets. However, the cash value of many of the assets is not disputed. If we assume the trial court adopted the husband's valuation of the assets, given its finding that it did not attach any credit to the opinions of Joan's Stutz's accountant, Joan received approximately 24% of the parties' assets. Under this scenario, she received better than 50% of the equity in the residence, nearly all of the furniture which the husband valued at $30,000, all of her personal belongings for which no evidence of value was offered, the Mercedes sports car, her IRAs and jewelry. In addition, the trial court specifically awarded her certain tax refunds totaling $28,018 and a judgment of $368,000 for her portion of the business, an individual proprietorship known as Trim-Line of Stutz. Joan valued the business at $878,487 while Max Stutz valued it after losses sustained in 1988 at $558,775. The average of these values is approximately $718,000 of which $363,000 is roughly one-half.

Although not specifically stated, it appears Joan did not receive any portion of [1348]*1348the parties' savings accounts, including the Merrill Lynch account which contained the remaining proceeds from the sale of two-thirds of the business in 1986. According to the husband, the Merrill Lynch account contained approximately 1.4 million dollars at the time of the hearing. The evidence showed that the business sold in December 1986, three months before the petition for dissolution was filed, for approximately 2.5 million dollars. The then corporation had assets worth approximately $95,000, the remaining portion of the sale price attributable to goodwill and Max's expertise. The parties had better than $65,000 in the other savings accounts. Max also retained three vehicles with a total value of $28,000, his life insurance and IRAs which again were worth considerably more than Joan's.

Joan contests the property division on the basis that the trial court considered the evidence of her dissipation of the marital assets to the exclusion of the factors specified in 1.0. 81-1-11.5-11. However, the trial court's findings and the evidence of record establish that the trial court did consider the contributions of each of the spouses to the acquisition of property, the economic cireumstances of each spouse, the conduct of the parties during the marriage and the earnings and earning ability of each spouse but did not place substantial weight on either Joan's contribution as a homemaker or her contention that she did not have the ability to earn much. Indeed, the trial court specifically found that the evidence rebutted the presumption that she was entitled to an equal share in the marital estate. Briefly, the findings and evidence on each factor are as follows:

(1) The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the property, regardless of whether the contribution was income producing.

The trial court found the evidence "clearly proved that the overwhelming majority of the assets and liabilities of this marriage were earned and accumulated by Max's work in his Trim-Line business and its sale to the 3M Company in December 1986." This finding is substantiated by the record. Max purchased the trim line franchise in 1974. The business grew at a rate of about 300% per year.

The evidence also showed that the Stutzes married when they were both nineteen. They had high school educations. Max worked two jobs continuously over the twenty-two year marriage. He contributed all of the income. Joan was a good homemaker over the first sixteen years of the marriage but lost interest in the home and family in the final six years. Joan did work at the business as a receptionist as her schedule permitted. She also handled accounts receivable until the business incorporated in 1984 and computerized. Two employees, in addition to Max, testified that Joan's presence in the office was a hindrance. She made the other employees uncomfortable and actually cost the business customers.

(2) The extent to which the property was acquired by each spouse prior to the marriage or through inheritance or gift.

Neither party brought much in assets into the marriage. Joan contributed $500 while Max owned a vehicle. Neither party made any claim or introduced any evidence of inheritance or gift.

(3) The economic ctreumstances of each spouse at the time the disposition of the property is to be effective, including the desirability of awarding the faomily residence or the right to dwell in that residence for such periods as the court may deem just to the spouse having custody of any children.

The trial court awarded Max the residence and physical custody of the minor child but ordered him to pay Joan $52,500, a sum representing one-half of Joan's appraisal of the home's value and better than half of Max's. The parties purchased the home for $40,000. Max improved the home with an addition to accommodate his older daughter, son-in-law and grandchild. The improvements were made from his income after Joan left.

The court specifically indicated that it had considered Joan's economic circumstances:

Joan wants substantially more than fifty percent (50%) of the assets of the mar[1349]*1349riage because of the contribution she says she made to the marriage, the fact that she is 42 years old, a high school graduate, no computer training, and has no benefits at her current work such as retirement or medical, because she can't earn much, and will have to live off any property division from this marriage while she only makes Six Dollars ($6.00) an hour and cannot find a job for more money and cannot make a lot of money.

The court also recognized in its findings the disparity in the parties' incomes. Joan grosses $180 per week while Max has a gross income of about $3500 per week. Max retained a part of the trim business after the sale but the business has been losing money in recent years. Max also had as a consequence of the sale of the business a two-year consulting contract with 3M which expired before the final hearing on this matter, has the ability to earn a commission for two more years on gross sales, and has signed an agreement not to compete for which he is compensated.

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Marriage of Stutz v. Stutz
556 N.E.2d 1346 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
556 N.E.2d 1346, 1990 Ind. App. LEXIS 939, 1990 WL 105063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriage-of-stutz-v-stutz-indctapp-1990.