Marriage of Winters v. Winters

2004 MT 82, 87 P.3d 1005, 320 Mont. 459, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 86
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedApril 1, 2004
Docket03-306
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2004 MT 82 (Marriage of Winters v. Winters) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marriage of Winters v. Winters, 2004 MT 82, 87 P.3d 1005, 320 Mont. 459, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 86 (Mo. 2004).

Opinions

JUSTICE WARNER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Terri Murphy (Terri) appeals from an order of the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, regarding past due child support, past due medical support, and execution on a judgment for the property division with her ex-husband Mike Winters (Mike). We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for proceedings consistent with this Opinion.

¶2 We address the following issues on appeal:

¶3 1. Did the District Court violate § 40-4-208, MCA, when it ordered a deferred payment plan for past due child support and past due medical support?

¶4 2. Did the District Court err in declining to hold Mike in contempt of its past orders?

¶5 3. Did the District Court err in ordering Mike was not required to pay interest on the past due child support?

¶6 4. Did the District Court err in exempting one of Mike’s business accounts from execution by Terri?

¶7 5. Did the District Court err when it denied Terri’s request for attorney fees and costs pursuant to their original settlement agreement?

¶8 6. Is Terri entitled to attorney fees and costs on appeal?

[462]*462I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶9 Terri and Mike married in 1986 and divorced in 1995. They had four children during their marriage, all of whom are still minors. The parties entered into a settlement agreement which was incorporated into the divorce decree. Among its terms, the agreement provided that Mike would pay Terri $1,065 a month in child support and would pay one-half of the children’s uncovered medical expenses. The parties also agreed that Mike would pay specific sums and assume certain debts as part of their property division settlement. In addition, the agreement provided that in an enforcement action, the prevailing party would be entitled to attorney fees.

¶10 In 1996, Terri brought a motion for contempt because Mike failed to pay the child support, medical support, or property settlement amounts owed. While her motion was pending, both Mike and the company he ran, Winters Roof Co., Inc., filed for bankruptcy. Before the bankruptcy was finalized, the District Court found Mike in contempt of the divorce decree. The District Court lowered Mike’s monthly child support payment to $900 per month for five years, per stipulation of the parties, and ordered Mike to pay the delinquent child support, medical support, and property settlement amounts then due. Terri was also awarded attorney fees incurred as a result of the contempt motion. Subsequently, the bankruptcy court discharged part of the property settlement that Mike was to pay Terri and also discharged the attorney fees she was awarded as a result of the contempt proceeding. However, the bankruptcy court also declared that $16,363.63 of the property settlement Mike owed Terri was nondischargeable.

¶11 Because Mike continued to be delinquent on child support payments, Terri sought assistance from the Child Support Enforcement Division (CSED). The CSED initiated license suspension proceedings to suspend Mike’s driver’s license. During the administrative proceedings, Mike appeared and requested that his monthly child support obligation be modified due to the decrease in income he suffered after the bankruptcy. CSED lowered his payment to $612 per month in November 1997. The CSED also determined Mike’s child support debt to be $13,234.92. As part of its proceedings, the CSED offered to stay its license suspension process if Mike agreed to pay $612 per month plus $50 per month towards his child support arrearages. On June 12, 1998, Mike agreed to the $662 monthly payment in a License Suspension Financial Hardship Payment Plan Agreement. This agreement provided that its terms would continue for [463]*463only one year.

¶ 12 About a month after Mike signed this agreement, he went to Terri and asked her if she would get CSED “off his back.” The parties then made an oral agreement that Mike would pay $700 per month and that $88 of this payment would go towards Mike’s child support arrearages. While Mike did not make timely payments each month, he was always able to eventually bring his $700 payments current. This agreement continued for a few years until the proceedings at issue here.

¶13 In the summer of 2001, Mike’s relationship with his oldest child began to deteriorate. Their relationship worsened to the point that a counselor the child was seeing as a result of these problems recommended that she have no contact with Mike. Because Mike made clear he would not alter his visitation rights with his daughter without a court order, Terri moved to amend the parenting plan in May 2002. As part of this motion, Terri sought to modify the child support payments as she believed a new parenting plan would necessitate child support adjustments. A week later Terri also moved for an order holding Mike in contempt because he failed to pay child support for thi’ee months, failed to pay his share of the children’s uncovered medical expenses, and failed to pay the property settlement that survived the bankruptcy. However, later testimony established that Mike paid the three delinquent months after Terri filed the motion. ¶14 Subsequently, Terri and Mike were able to agree to modifications of the parenting plan. Their agreement was incorporated into an order by the court. However, the parties could not settle their financial disputes. Further, while the proceedings were pending, Terri executed on a number of Mike’s accounts which he used personally and to conduct his roofing business. As a result, the clerk of court received $10,750 that Mike had designated for business expenses on a roofing project. The contractor that subcontracted the job to Mike wrote to the court, requesting that the $10,750 be released for Mike’s payroll expenses.

¶15 Following a contentious discovery process regarding Mike’s income and expenses, the court held a hearing on Terri’s motion for contempt and Mike’s motion to dismiss. Both parties testified and introduced evidence.

¶16 The District Court then issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a later judgment. First, the court found that Mike owed $13,234.92 in child support arrearages based on the CSED determination. The court also found Mike owed $5,288 in medical support arrearages based on evidence submitted by Terri. The court [464]*464then found that the parties followed the CSED payment plan for a number of years even though it expired in one year. Based on these facts, the court held that Mike was not in contempt of court because he had regularly paid child support. In addition, of the $88 paid each month above $612, the court designated $50 towards child support arrearages for a total of $2,850 and $38 towards medical support arrearages for a total of $2,166.

¶17 Further, based on Mike’s representations that he could afford to pay more, the court increased Mike’s monthly payment by $200 to $812 per month. The court designated $100 of that payment toward child support arrearages and $100 to medical support arrearages. The court waived interest on the child support arrearages, but allowed interest to accrue on the medical support arrearages as of the date of its order. The court also noted interest of $10,474.24 had accrued on the property settlement judgement from the date the bankruptcy court declared the nondischargeable amount was owed.

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Bluebook (online)
2004 MT 82, 87 P.3d 1005, 320 Mont. 459, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 86, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marriage-of-winters-v-winters-mont-2004.