McClennen v. McClennen

464 P.2d 982, 11 Ariz. App. 395, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 503
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 18, 1970
Docket1 CA-CIV 1027
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 464 P.2d 982 (McClennen v. McClennen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McClennen v. McClennen, 464 P.2d 982, 11 Ariz. App. 395, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 503 (Ark. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

HOWARD, Chief Judge.

The appellee, the plaintiff below, filed a complaint for divorce against the appellant. Appellant counter-claimed for separate maintenance but this was later amended to a separate counter-claim for absolute divorce.

The trial court awarded the appellant an absolute divorce and awarded the care, custody and control of their ten year old girl to the appellant, divided the community property, and ordered appellee to pay to the appellant child support in the amount of $200.00 per month and alimony in the sum of $1,250.00 per month, less $15,000.00 to be deducted at the rate of $200.00 per month as appellant’s contribution to the payment of the community debts of the parties. Appellant maintains that the trial court erred in the manner in which it divided the community property, in failing to grant her motion for a new trial on the basis of newly discovered evidence, and in failing to take into consideration tax consequences in the granting of alimony.

The facts considered in the light most favorable to upholding the decision of the trial court are as follows. The parties at the time of trial had been married for approximately twenty-five years. The appellee was admitted to the Arizona State Bar in 1946 and since then has been continuously engaged in the practice of law in Phoenix. The trial court awarded the appellant the care, custody and control of the minor child and ordered the appellee to pay to the appellant the sum of $200.00 per month for the support of the child plus any extraordinary medical and dental expenses.

The appellee was awarded the 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix automobile, the 1967 Pontiac Firebird automobile, the 1962 Oldsmobile automobile, the interest of the parties *397 in the law firm of Fennemore, Craig, vonAmmon, McClennen & Udall, three life insurance policies, 1,800 shares of stock in the Colorado River Ranch, all interests in the real property known as Standford Drive property, the realty property known as the Shea Boulevard property, and his personal effects.

The appellant was awarded the 1966 Cadillac automobile, her personal clothing, furs and jewelry, and the home furnishings located in the Phoenix Towers Cooperative Apartments owned by the parties including the Baldwin piano.

Appellee was further ordered to pay to appellant’s attorney attorney’s fees in the sum of $6,750.00.

The court refused to dispose of the parties’ interest in the Phoenix Towers property for the reason that it was held as a joint tenancy with the right of survivor-ship.

DIVISION OF PROPERTY

Appellant claims that there is a three to one disparity in the net asset value between the assets distributed to the appellant and to the appellee. The appellee maintains that the evidence shows that the net value of all assets awarded to the appellee is $37,808.00 and that the net value of the assets awarded to the appellant is $41,750.00.

At the trial of this action the appellant’s attorney did not dispute the value of any items except the valuation of appellee’s capital account in the law partnership and the valuation of the Stanford Drive property. Appellant is now questioning the value of several items in addition to the capital account and the Stanford Drive property, to-wit, the valuation of the jewelry, the home furnishings and the automobiles. Having offered no evidence at the trial contrary to the values submitted to the trial court, the appellant is now foreclosed from questioning the valuation of the automobiles and jewelry. However, a question still remains as to the negative value given the the Stanford Drive property in the sum of $1,534.00. The capital account was valued at $11,428.00.

As to the valuation of the capital account, the evidence showed that until 1968 the firm had been on an accrual basis instead of a cash basis. In 1967 an adjustment was made to the capital account of the appellee in the sum of $21,151.00, which was a reduction, in order to reflect the changing from the accrual basis to the cash basis.

Appellant complains that it is obvious that the capital account figure of $11,428.00 did not take into consideration any accounts receivable. The problem with the appellant’s contention at this point is that the only evidence before the trial court was that the capital account was in the sum of $11,428.00. If appellant did not believe that that figure reflected the true amount of the capital account, then it was incumbent upon the appellant at the time of trial to present evidence showing the true value of the capital account. We do not believe that even if the testimony, did show the amount of appellee’s share of the accounts receivable at the time of the trial, it would have been proper, under the facts of this case, for the trial court to divide them between the spouses. This is so bet cause a lawyer’s accounts receivable represents what he lives on from month to month. It is his source of income and the source of the alimony and child support payments ordered by the trial court.

In the appellee’s breakdown of the net value of the property that was awarded to each party, he claims that the trial court awarded $17,500.00 worth of the home furnishings to the appellant and $6,-500.00 to the appellee. We do not know how the appellee arrived at this breakdown since at the trial the only testimony was that the total home furnishings were valued in the sum of $24,000.00. Appellant wants us then to assume that the court divided the home furnishings equally between the parties, which would mean that each party received $12,000.00 worth of household furnishings. For the sake of ar *398 gument we accept this contention of the appellant and also the contention that the Stafford Drive property should not be included with a negative value and arrive at the conclusion that the appellee received $44,842.00 net value of assets and the appellant $36,250.00. But, not only should the court take into consideration the value of the community property, it should also take into consideration the total amount of the community liabilities in deciding the division of the property. Spector v. Spector, 94 Ariz. 175, 382 P.2d 659 (1963). The total unsecured community obligations amounted to $52,054.00. The appellee was ordered to pay $37,054.00 of these obligations and the appellant was ordered to pay $15,000.00 towards the obligations. Subtracting these sums from the net value of ■ the assets given to each party the results indicate that the appellee received $7,788.00 Worth of community assets and the appellant $21,250.00. Thus, the contention of the appellant that the division was uneven as to her share is not supported by the evidence.

The trial court is not required to divide the property evenly, only equitably. Only when this discretion has been abused will the appellate court interfere. Nace v. Nace, 104 Ariz. 20, 448 P.2d 76 (1968).

THE JOINT TENANCY PROPERTY'

The evidence at the trial indicated that at the time of the trial the appellant was living in an apartment in Phoenix Towers. The apartment' house is what is known as a' cooperative apartment. Instead of purchasing real estate the parties purchased, as evidence of the ownership, shares in a corporation.

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Bluebook (online)
464 P.2d 982, 11 Ariz. App. 395, 1970 Ariz. App. LEXIS 503, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcclennen-v-mcclennen-arizctapp-1970.