Parsons v. Parsons

2001 WY 62, 27 P.3d 270, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 79, 2001 WL 808387
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 18, 2001
Docket00-247
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2001 WY 62 (Parsons v. Parsons) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parsons v. Parsons, 2001 WY 62, 27 P.3d 270, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 79, 2001 WL 808387 (Wyo. 2001).

Opinion

KITE, Justice.

[T1] In a divorce action, the district court ordered the sale of the marital real property to an identified, willing third party by an established deadline unless the husband arranged for the purchase before the deadline expired. The husband appealed claiming the district court acted arbitrarily. We affirm.

ISSUES

[12] Appellant Ray Parsons (the husband) presents the following issue for our review:

I. Whether the district court acted arbitrarily and capriciqusly when it ordered the sale of the marital property in the divorce action.

Appellee Dixie Parsons (the wife) phrases the issues as:

1. Whether this appeal should be dismissed because Appellant has failed to comply with Rule 3.03, Wyo.R.App.P., and has thereby failed to provide an adequate record for review.
2. Whether this appeal should be dis-. missed because Appellant is raising new issues after failing to present testimony or other relevant evidence during the trial.
3. Whether the District Court abused its discretion or acted arbitrarily and capriciously in ordering the sale of real property in the First Supplemental Decree of Divorce Regarding Sale of Real Property and Improvements dated March 80, 2000.
4. Whether reasonable attorney's fees and damages to the Appellee should be assessed against Appellant under Rule 10.05, Wyo.R.App.P.

FACTS

[13] After eleven years of marriage, the wife filed her complaint for a divorce on August 24, 1998. The couple owned a small ranch and associated personal property. Limited discovery occurred, and the matter was set for trial one year later, on September 10, 1999. The husband requested a continuance to allow his new attorney to enter the case. The trial was rescheduled for December 1, 1999.

[T4] At trial, the wife presented four witnesses and introduced several exhibits relating to the value of their joint property including an appraisal of the real estate, which was valued at $311,705. One of the witnesses was Cynthia K. Smith who lived and worked on the couple's ranch and was willing to purchase the property for the appraised value. The wife concluded her case on December 1, 1999, and the trial was continued until December 13, 1999, at which time the husband informed the court that he would produce no testimony or other evidence. The parties used the scheduled trial time to discuss settlement and ultimately reached an agreement with regard to the distribution of the personal property but were unsuccessful concerning the real estate.

[15] The court informed the parties of its intent to order the sale of the real property to Ms. Smith at the appraised value unless, by December 27, 1999, the husband provided the court with: (1) his written bona fide purchase offer for the property at the appraised value together with verification of the necessary financing or (2) an offer from a third party at a price exceeding Ms. Smith's offer. Ms. Smith filed a written offer to purchase at the appraised value on Decem *272 ber 21, 1999. The husband filed no objection to this procedure, and the court received no offer from him by the deadline. The court entered the Decree of Divorcee on December 29, 1999, which included a provision that a supplemental decree of divorce would be entered to effectuate the division of the marital property and debts of the parties.

[16] On February 24, 2000, the husband filed an objection to the First Supplemental Decree of Divorce Regarding Sale of Real Property and Improvements in which he objected to Ms. Smith's offer "due to disagreement with several of the sales contract stipulations" although he confirmed the parties had agreed at the time of trial to sell the property. The court entered the supplemental decree on March 30, 2000, which set forth the order to sell the property to Ms. Smith as had been outlined at trial.

[17] The husband refused to accept Ms. Smith's written offer, and, on April 18, 2000, the wife filed a Petition for Order to Show Cause why the husband should not be held in contempt for refusing to comply with the court's order and sought attorney's fees incurred in the effort to enforce the order. After a hearing, the district court found the husband in contempt of its order. The clerk of court was also appointed, pursuant to W.R.C.P. 70, to act on behalf of the husband in accepting Ms. Smith's offer to purchase, and the husband was ordered to pay $641 to the wife's attorney for attorney's fees. The husband filed this appeal from the supplemental decree.

[18] The trial was not reported or recorded. The husband filed a Statement of the Case ostensibly pursuant to W.R.AP. 3.08. However, since he apparently intended to provide a factual record, a statement of evidence pursuant to W.RAP. 3.08 would have been the appropriate method. In any event, the record was certified to this court before the wife was able to respond to the Statement of the Case, and, therefore, it cannot properly be considered as part of this record. The facts set out in this opinion have been drawn from court documents and other pleadings in the record.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[T9] The standard of review applicable to decisions involving the division of marital property is abuse of discretion. This standard was most recently stated in Belless v. Belless, 2001 WY 41, ¶ 6, 21 P.3d 749, ¶ 6 (Wyo.2001):

There are few rules more firmly established in our jurisprudence than the proposition that disposition of marital property, calculation of income for child support purposes, and the granting of alimony are committed to the sound discretion of the district court. Johnson v. Johnson, 11 P.3d 948, 950 (Wyo.2000). Judicial discretion is a composite of many things, among which are conclusions drawn from objective criteria; it means exercising sound judgment with regard to what is right under the circumstances and without doing so - arbitrarily or capriciously. - Id.; Vaughn v. State, 962 P.2d 149, 151 (Wyo.1998). We must ask ourselves whether the trial court could reasonably conclude as it did and whether any facet of its ruling was arbitrary or capricious. Johnson, 11 P.3d at 950. In accomplishing our review, we consider only the evidence in favor of the successful party, ignore the evidence of the unsuccessful party, and grant to the successful party every reasonable inference that can be drawn from the record. Id.

DISCUSSION

[110] On appeal, the husband claims the district court acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it ordered the real property be sold and the proceeds equally divided between the parties. His objection is focused upon the deadline within which the court required him to respond if he desired to purchase the property himself. He claims the thirteen days between the announcement of the court's decision and the December 27, 1999, deadline was unreasonably short and he was denied due process by a lack of notice and meaningful opportunity to be heard. He also claims this process was arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Elizabeth Sue Begley v. Patrick Gordon Begley
2020 WY 77 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2020)
Olsen v. Olsen
2011 WY 30 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2011)
Orcutt v. Shober Investments, Inc.
2003 WY 60 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2003)
Root v. Root
2003 WY 36 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2001 WY 62, 27 P.3d 270, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 79, 2001 WL 808387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parsons-v-parsons-wyo-2001.