McIlwain v. McIlwain

283 N.W. 845, 135 Neb. 705, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 30
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 10, 1939
DocketNo. 30460
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 283 N.W. 845 (McIlwain v. McIlwain) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McIlwain v. McIlwain, 283 N.W. 845, 135 Neb. 705, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 30 (Neb. 1939).

Opinion

Simmons, C. J.

This is a proceeding brought under the provisions of section 42-324, Comp. St. Supp. 1937, to revise and alter a decree fixing permanent alimony.

The plaintiff and the defendant were married April 5, 1905; three children were born to the marriage; the youngest will become of age March 10, 1939. The plaintiff [706]*706•is 60, the defendant 58, years .of age. The plaintiff and the defendant resided in Nebraska until 1921, when, apparently with the plaintiff’s approval, the defendant with the three children removed from Nebraska to California, where she and the three children have since resided.

.Shortly after the marriagé, residence . property ' was bought in Omaha by the plaintiff ■ and the defendant, title being taken in the wife’s name, part of the. purchase money being furnished by the defendant’s father. This property Was sold’ and a second property bought, in part with a contribution from the estate of the defendant’s father. This was profitably sold, and the proceeds thereof were taken by the defendant to California where, apparently using her own discretion and judgment, she invested and reinvested the money, sometimes with profit, sometimes with loss.

In April, 1933, the plaintiff brought an action for divorce against the defendant, alleging in his amended petition- the incompatibility of the defendant and desertion of the plaintiff by the defendant. The defendant answered, admitting the marriage and denying all other allegations in the petition. At the trial' of the divorce, action, the defendant appeared by her attorney, introduced no evidence, and made no objections to the introduction of evidence. A decree granting the plaintiff an unconditional divorce on the ground of the defendant’s desertion was entered November 1, 1933. On that date there was also filed with the clerk of the court a stipulation, dated May 10, 1933, providing, among other things, that, upon the signing of a decree in this action, if one was granted, regardless of who obtained the divorce, alimony should be settled as follows: Plaintiff to pay the defendant the sum of $75 per month until the younger son reached the age of 21 years; that thereafter the defendant was to be paid the sum of $40 per month; and that there should be incorporated in the decree the terms and conditions of the stipulation.

In the decree the court found “That the stipulation entered into between these parties is fair and reasonable, and considering the present earning capacity of the plain[707]*707tiff and the circumstances of the parties, should be made binding upon themand decreed “That the terms of. a stipulation entered into between these parties be binding upon the same;” and provided for the payment of $75 per month by the plaintiff to the defendant until the younger son became 21 years of age, and that “after said date the plaintiff is to pay the defendant the sum of $45 per month.” Indorsed upon the stipulation is the following: “With alimony for defendant increased to $45 per mo. after son Laurence becomes of age. Stipulation approved.” To that appears the signature of the trial judge.

On December 10, 1937, plaintiff filed his petition in said action, reciting the above decree, compliance therewith, his remarriage, a reduced earning capacity; that he has no property except his earnings; and praying for a decree, altering and modifying said alimony decree by reducing the payments of $75 per month to a sum not exceeding $25 per month until the younger son becomes 21 years of age; and providing that thereafter all payments of alimony cease.

The defendant answered, alleging that the payments provided for in said decree were based upon a stipulated property settlement; that the same became binding upon the parties; that there has been no change of position of the defendant since said decree; setting out her property holdings; alleging the capacity of the plaintiff to continue said payments; and praying that the stipulated contract in said decree remain unaltered and unmodified; and that the terms thereof should be carried out in their entirety.

The matter was heard upon March 5, 1938. The trial court found “that the evidence does not disclose any substantial change in the circumstances of the parties,” and denied a modification of the alimony payments “except that the modification of the original stipulation be and the same hereby is canceled;” and ordered that “the original stipulation providing for payments of $40 per month after the majority of the youngest child is hereby confirmed.”

At the time of the hearing in the trial court, of the three children, the daughter was married and well-to-do; the [708]*708older son was unmarried, living at home, and well-employed; and the younger son was finishing high school and had the promise of a good job. The real estate owned by the defendant consisted of a small apartment house in which she lived, the rent of which, however, was collected by the loan company which held a mortgage upon it. She had no other income and was not in good health. It appeared, also, that the younger son had saved some money from the payments made under the court order by his father. The plaintiff had no property of any kind save a cheap automobile purchased in 1936, upon which full payment had not yet been made at the time of trial. During the twelve years before the divorce that the defendant,resided in California with her children, the plaintiff contributed to their support a total of $21,000 from his earnings as a freight engineer; and at one time gave the defendant $500 to be used as the purchase price of property. The defendant has the residue of the property resulting from the contributions of her father and from the earnings of the plaintiff.

The record shows some dispute as to the present earnings of the plaintiff. The plaintiff testified that he was earning around $275 a month when the decree was entered in 1933. The record does not disclose whether the sum fixed for his 1933 earnings of $275 a month was net or gross. He testified he was earning around $190 to $200 when the case was tried in March, 1938. His gross earnings shown for February, 1938, alone, were around $217. His gross earnings for the year 1937 were $3,525.38, from which approximately $30 a month for road expenses should be deducted. He fixed his monthly expenses at the time of the trial at about $290, which included the alimony payment. His only disclosed income at the time of the trial, other than earnings, was $10 a month from a stepdaughter. He listed no debts other than those on his car, so we conclude his current income was sufficient to meet his current expenses, and that there has been no substantial reduction in his earnings since 1933. The terms of plain[709]*709tiff’s employment make him subject to voluntary retirement at the age of 65 with a pension of $92 or $93 per month according to present figures; and he is subject to compulsory retirement at 70 with a pension of about $110 per month. However, this contingency will not occur for five years at the earliest.

We first consider the effect of the stipúlation as disclosed by the record in this case. We do not have the testimony, with reference to the property of the plaintiff or his earnings, at the time of the trial of the action for divorce other than his statement at the time of the hearing in 1938.

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Bluebook (online)
283 N.W. 845, 135 Neb. 705, 1939 Neb. LEXIS 30, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcilwain-v-mcilwain-neb-1939.