Marriage of Webb v. Schleutker

891 N.E.2d 1144, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1791, 2008 WL 3552666
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 15, 2008
Docket48A02-0707-CV-568
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 891 N.E.2d 1144 (Marriage of Webb v. Schleutker) 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 Webb v. Schleutker, 891 N.E.2d 1144, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1791, 2008 WL 3552666 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

VAIDIK, Judge.

Case Summary

James R. Webb (“Husband”) appeals the trial court’s treatment of the marital property in his dissolution from his wife, Nancy J. (Webb) Schleutker (‘Wife”). Wife cross-appeals. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in including soon-to-be harvested crops in the marital pot and, *1148 when assigning a value to the crops, subtracting the value of the Husband’s labor in planting, harvesting, and otherwise caring for the crops. Further, it was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to include in the marital pot crop subsidy payments from the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) earned before and during the period of the parties’ separation, but paid during the period of the parties’ separation. Finding no other error, we affirm. 1

Facts and Procedural History

Husband and Wife were married on June 24, 1978. Husband has an undergraduate degree from Purdue University in agricultural economics and works as a full-time farmer. Wife was a homemaker, helped out around the farm, and is currently working for Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., an agricultural company. Husband and Wife have three children. The older two children have graduated from college and are emancipated, and the youngest is currently attending college.

Wife filed for divorce on August 9, 2005. The final hearing was held on December 20, 2006. At the final hearing, the parties submitted evidence regarding the value of the marital assets. The marital estate consisted of not only the marital residence, but also included farmland, farm equipment, and a hedge account with Rosenthal Collins Group, LLC (“RCG”).

The trial court issued its dissolution decree on February 16, 2007. In the decree, the trial court put all the marital property in one pot and equally divided it, including crops that were growing in August 2005 at the time Wife filed for divorce and payments from the USDA through its farm income and commodity price support programs. Husband was given most of the marital property, including the marital residence and farmland. The trial court consequently ordered Husband to make a $270,000 property equalization payment to Wife, with the stipulation that $150,000 of it be paid within ninety days of the final hearing and that Wife was entitled to stay at the residence for up to three months after Husband makes that initial payment. Appellant’s App. p. 18. Husband now appeals, and Wife cross-appeals. Husband requested a stay of execution pending appeal, which the trial court granted.

Discussion and Decision

Husband contends that the trial court abused its discretion in including in the marital pot growing crops and USDA payments, valuing the marital property, equally dividing the marital property, allowing Wife to remain at the marital residence for up to three months after Husband pays $150,000 of the property equalization payment, and awarding Wife appellate attorney fees. Wife cross-appeals contending that the trial court abused its discretion in decreasing the value of the crops by the value of Husband’s labor.

I. Crops and USDA Payments

Husband contends that the trial court abused its discretion in including in the marital pot growing crops and USDA payments. The trial court’s dissolution decree provides:

There is no question that the 2[0]05 crops were planted and were almost ready to be harvested when the dissolution was filed on August 9, 2005. There is no question as to the value of the crops (see Exhibit G). The dispute is with the expenses to harvest the crops. *1149 WIFE is no longer requesting any value for the alfalfa.
Corn $ 123,334.00
Soybeans & $ 111,780.00
U[SD]A $ 59,995.00
$2[95],109.00
Gross Crops $295,109.00
Parmer’s Skill & Labor (70,000.00)
Adjusted Gross Crops $225,109.00

Id. at 13 (formatting altered).

It is well-established in Indiana that all marital property goes into the marital pot for division, whether it was owned by either spouse prior to the marriage, acquired by either spouse after the marriage and prior to final separation of the parties, or acquired by their joint efforts. Ind.Code § 31—15—7—4(a); Beard v. Beard, 758 N.E.2d 1019, 1025 (Ind.Ct.App. 2001), trans. denied. “[T]he determinative date when identifying marital property subject to division is the date of final separation, in other words, the date the petition for dissolution was filed.” Granzow v. Granzow, 855 N.E.2d 680, 684 (Ind.Ct. App.2006). This “one-pot” theory ensures that all assets are subject to the trial court’s power to divide and award. Thompson v. Thompson, 811 N.E.2d 888, 914 (Ind.Ct.App.2004), reh’g denied, trans. denied. While the trial court may ultimately determine that a particular asset should be awarded solely to one spouse, it must first include the asset in its consideration of the marital estate to be divided. Id.

Here, when Wife filed the dissolution petition in August 2005, the crops were growing in the ground but not yet harvested. Although no Indiana case law has expressed the proposition that growing crops are marital assets, cases from other jurisdictions have. In re Marriage of Mohr, 260 Ill.App.3d 98, 197 Ill.Dec. 563, 631 N.E.2d 785, 789 (1994) (concluding that growing crops on leased land constituted marital assets: “To say that a spouse should not share in crops harvested after the marriage dissolution (but planted before the dissolution) can bring about an unfair result.”); In re Marriage of Martin, 436 N.W.2d 374, 376 (Iowa Ct.App.1988) (concluding that crops growing on marital property may be considered marital assets separate from the value of the real estate); Spauldin v. Spauldin, 945 S.W.2d 665, 668-69 (Mo.Ct.App.1997) (“Annual crops raised by yearly labor and cultivation are fructus industriales, and are to be regarded as personal chattels, independent and distinct from the land, capable of a sale without regard to whether growing or matured. Therefore, growing crops are an asset to be divided in a dissolution of marriage, even when they are growing on marital property.”) (quotation and citations omitted); Kalkowski v. Kalkowski, 258 Neb. 1035, 607 N.W.2d 517

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Bluebook (online)
891 N.E.2d 1144, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1791, 2008 WL 3552666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriage-of-webb-v-schleutker-indctapp-2008.