Owens v. Owens

219 S.W.3d 867, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 674, 2007 WL 1239209
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 2007
Docket27618
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 219 S.W.3d 867 (Owens v. Owens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Owens v. Owens, 219 S.W.3d 867, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 674, 2007 WL 1239209 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

PHILLIP R. GARRISON, Judge.

Linda Kay Owens (“Wife”) appeals from the judgment entered in the dissolution of her marriage to Michael Ray Owens (“Husband”). Wife alleges the trial court erred in denying her maintenance and in awarding Husband a money judgment against her. We affirm in part and remand in part with directions.

The parties were married on March 6, 1982, and separated on or about December 7, 2004. No children were born of the marriage. On December 17, 2004, Husband filed a petition for dissolution of marriage, and on January 25, 2005, Wife filed an answer and counter-petition for dissolution of marriage, requesting an award of spousal maintenance. Viewed in the light most favorable to the trial court’s judgment, the following evidence was adduced at trial.

Husband was fifty years old at the time of dissolution, and had been working for LaFollette Excavating for nine months, running heavy equipment. Husband’s gross monthly income was $3,245.83. Before working at his present employment, Husband worked as a full-time horse trainer for six years, which consisted of breaking, training, showing, buying, selling, and trading horses. Husband had previously worked twenty-one years for the railroad in Springfield, Missouri, which he left voluntarily to work as a horse trainer. Upon his retirement at age sixty-six, Husband would be entitled to railroad retirement benefits. It was his understanding that there were two levels of retirement benefits, one being Tier One, which was likened to social security and would be automatically divided between he and Wife. The other one was Tier Two, which Husband was willing to divide “50/50” with Wife.

Wife, who had been employed throughout the marriage, had also worked for the railroad at one time, but lost her job through a merger. At the time of the dissolution hearing, Wife was employed part-time as a court clerk for the Webster County Circuit Court, earning $1,437.60 per month, but she was looking for a full-time job.

Husband and Wife owned a farm, consisting of a house, and various outbuildings on twenty acres of land, including a horse barn. The horse barn was a 117' x 150' riding facility with sixteen stalls, a lounge, *870 and an apartment. Husband had rented the stalls out in the past and had received approximately $200 to $250 a month per stall. This stall rental included feeding, cleaning, and training the horses. He said that he still had the capability to rent the stalls out now. There was testimony that the fair market value of the farm was $295,000.

At the time of the separation the parties owned thirteen horses, and one-half interest in three other horses. The parties also owned commercial property consisting of a one-acre tract of land located in Ozark, Missouri. On that property was a building, known as the Branson Welcome Center, which was a ticket outlet for shows and attractions in the Branson, Missouri, area, and a billboard. This property produced income of $3,500 per month, which consisted of the front side of the billboard that rented for $1,000 per month, and the building rental of $2,500 per month. The back side of the billboard had poor visibility from the highway and had never been rented out. The commercial property was valued at $390,000, and carried an unpaid mortgage with a balance of $4,382.61.

On July 19, 2005, the trial court heard evidence, and on December 7, 2005, it entered its “Findings and Recommendations for Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage.” In its findings, the court dissolved the parties’ marriage. The court awarded the commercial property and billboard, which it valued at $390,000, to Wife. The court denied Wife’s request for maintenance, finding that she could meet her reasonable needs from the $3,500 per month in income from the commercial property and her $1,438 per month in gross salary.

The court awarded to Husband the farm, which it valued at $295,000, and ordered him to pay the debt of $76,735.88 against it. The court also awarded to Husband the sixteen horses.

The court found that in order to achieve an equitable distribution of all marital assets and debts, Wife should pay Husband the amount of $73,266, and the court also ordered that the railroad retirement, Tier Two, be divided one-half to each party. Wife filed a motion for rehearing, which was overruled. This appeal followed.

OPINION

In Wife’s first point on appeal, she argues that the trial court erred in denying her maintenance, because its ruling is unsupported by the evidence and is against the weight of the evidence. We disagree.

In a dissolution proceeding, we will affirm the trial court’s judgment unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, is against the weight of the evidence or erroneously declares or applies the law. Youngberg v. Youngberg, 194 S.W.3d 886, 893 (Mo.App. S.D.2006). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, disregarding evidence to the contrary. Id. “[T]he trial court has broad discretion in determining whether or not to award maintenance.” Id.

The determination of whether to award maintenance under [S]ection 452.335[ 1 ] is a two-step procedure. In the first step, [Sjection 452.335.1 requires the trial court to find that: (1) the party seeking maintenance lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to that spouse, to provide for his or her reasonable needs; and (2) the party seeking maintenance is unable to support herself through appropriate employment. Once these findings are *871 made, [SJection 452.335.2 requires that the trial court, in determining the amount and duration of its maintenance award, consider the ten factors enumerated in the statute and balance the reasonable needs of the spouse seeking maintenance with the other spouse’s ability to pay. When both steps have been satisfied, the statute provides that maintenance should be awarded in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just.

Tarneja v. Tarneja, 164 S.W.3d 555, 564-65 (Mo.App. S.D.2005)(internal citations and quotations omitted).

Here, the trial court found that “each party is capable of being self-supporting and neither is entitled to maintenance.” The trial court further found that “[Wife] is able to meet her reasonable needs awarding the real estate property along with the wages and salary that she earns.” Regarding Wife’s income, the trial court found credible evidence indicating that the commercial property awarded to Wife generated $3,500 per month, and that Wife’s salary was $1,438 per month. The trial court found that Wife’s net income after taxes totaled $3,975 per month. While the trial court made no specific findings regarding Wife’s reasonable needs, it did relate that, “utiliz[ing] [Wife’s] exhibit ‘4’ of her total average monthly expenses of being $3,720[,] ... the Court finds that she is able to meet her reasonable needs[J”

Wife argues that the trial court’s finding that she is able to meet her reasonable needs is erroneous.

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Bluebook (online)
219 S.W.3d 867, 2007 Mo. App. LEXIS 674, 2007 WL 1239209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/owens-v-owens-moctapp-2007.