Pruyn v. LAM

2009 NMCA 103, 216 P.3d 804, 147 N.M. 39
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 30, 2009
Docket28,103
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2009 NMCA 103 (Pruyn v. LAM) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pruyn v. LAM, 2009 NMCA 103, 216 P.3d 804, 147 N.M. 39 (N.M. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

GARCIA, Judge.

{1} Mare Pruyn (Husband) stipulated to an award of spousal support to Amy Lam (Wife) as part of their divorce. This appeal arises out of the trial court’s subsequent termination of the spousal support awarded to Wife. Wife argues that the district court did not have jurisdiction to modify the spousal support agreement because Subsection 40-4-7(B)(2)(a) does not expressly permit modification of the type of spousal support set out in the parties’ agreement. NMSA 1978, Section 40-4-7(B)(2)(a) (1997). Husband argues that the district court did have jurisdiction to modify the spousal support under Subsection 40-4-7(B)(2)(a) and pursuant to Rule 1-060(B) NMRA. We reverse the determination by the district court that Wife’s spousal support was modifiable under Subsection 40-4-7(B)(2)(a). We further remand to the district court to complete its analysis and to issue a ruling regarding whether Wife’s spousal support can be modified under Rule 1-060(B).

FACTS AND PROCEDURES

{2} Wife and Husband lived together for twenty-three years, and they were married for seventeen of those years. On December 27, 2004, without assistance from counsel, the parties devised and filed a marital settlement agreement (MSA) that contained the parties’ spousal support arrangement. In August 2005, both parties appeared in district court for the final divorce hearing and stated that they fully understood their agreement and were willing to abide by the terms. Husband specifically answered the district court’s questions regarding the MSA as follows:

Judge: Do you understand that if I accept this and incorporate it by reference into the final decree that you’ll be ordered to comply with the terms and the conditions stated therein?
Husband: Yes, I do your Honor.
Judge: And that if you fail or refuse to comply with these conditions, not only are you in breach of contract of the settlement agreement, but you also can be sanctioned by the court, up to and including going to jail?
Husband: Yes, your Honor.
Judge: And you understand that you’ve agreed to pay alimony on the amounts that we’ve discussed until the year 2019?
Husband: Yes, I do.
Judge: And that by making reference in the agreement that this is non-modifiable, that you will not be allowed to come back into court at a later date should you have a change of financial circumstances and ask the court to reduce that obligation. Do you understand that?
Husband: Yes, I do.

The district court entered the final divorce decree (final decree) adopting the MSA on August 10, 2005.

{3} The spousal support language set forth in the MSA that was adopted by the final decree included the following handwritten provision, “[Husband] WILL PAY [Wife] 1/12 OF THE YEARLY AMOUNTS BY THE 1st OF EACH MONTH. 2005-2009 $31,375 per year; 2010-2014 $39,000 per year; 2015-2019 $23,000 per year. THIS IS NON-MODIFIABLE.” Approximately one year later, Husband filed a motion to modify alimony. In response, Wife filed a motion for summary judgment that was granted by the district court. Husband then filed a timely motion for reconsideration of the court’s denial of his motion to modify. After a hearing on the legal issues, the district court concluded that the judgment incorporating the spousal support was modifiable, stating that “the alimony award contained in the [judgment] does not qualify as a single[-]sum award.” See NMSA 1978, §§ 40-4-7(B)(l)(d) and -7(B)(2)(a) (1997). The district court then held a three-day merits trial to determine whether changed circumstances justified a modification of the judgment that incorporated the spousal support. After the hearing, the district court terminated Wife’s spousal support based upon the evidence of the parties’ changed circumstances. Namely, Husband was no longer “reasonably able to continue paying alimony to [Wife],” and Wife was able to “provide her own reasonable needs without assistance from [Husband].” The district court and the parties used the term “alimony.” For clarity throughout the remainder of this opinion, only the term “spousal support” shall be used. See Galassi v. Galassi 2009-NMCA-026, ¶ 9, 145 N.M. 630, 203 P.3d 161 (pointing out that the Legislature changed the nomenclature by substituting the term “spousal support” for “alimony”).

DISCUSSION

{4} The central issue on appeal is whether the district court had jurisdiction to modify the judgment incorporating spousal support under Subsections 40-4-7(B)(l) and (2) or Rule 1-060(B). The primary arguments before the district court concerned the applicability of Subsections 40 — 4—7(B)(1) and (2).

{5} In Subsection 40^1-7(B)(1), the Legislature described the following five categories for spousal support:

B. On final hearing, the court:
(1) may allow either party such a reasonable portion of the spouse’s property or such a reasonable sum of money to be paid by either spouse either in a single sum or in installments, as spousal support as under the circumstances of the case may seem just and proper, including a court award of:
(a) rehabilitative spousal support that provides the receiving spouse with education, training, work experience or other forms of rehabilitation that increases the receiving spouse’s ability to earn income and become self-supporting. The court may include a specific rehabilitation plan with its award of rehabilitative spousal support and may condition continuation of the support upon compliance with that plan;
(b) transitional spousal support to supplement the income of the receiving spouse for a limited period of time; provided that the period shall be clearly stated in the court’s final order;
(e) spousal support for an indefinite duration;
(d) a single sum to be paid in one or more installments that specifies definite amounts, subject only to the death of the receiving spouse; or
(e) a single sum to be paid in one or more installments that specifies definite amounts, not subject to any contingencies, including the death of the receiving spouse[.]

Galassi, 2009-NMCA-026, ¶ 10, 145 N.M. 630, 203 P.3d 161 (describing “five categories or types of spousal support that a district court may order”). In Subsection 40-4-7(B)(2)(a), the Legislature allowed modifications to spousal support by the district court as follows:

(2) [the district court] may:
(a) modify and change any order in respect to spousal support awarded pursuant to the provisions of Subparagraph (a), (b) or (c) of Paragraph (1) of this subsection whenever the circumstances render such change proper[.]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2009 NMCA 103, 216 P.3d 804, 147 N.M. 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pruyn-v-lam-nmctapp-2009.