Sanders v. Sanders

933 S.W.2d 898, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1849, 1996 WL 653746
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 12, 1996
Docket67085
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 933 S.W.2d 898 (Sanders v. Sanders) 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
Sanders v. Sanders, 933 S.W.2d 898, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1849, 1996 WL 653746 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

SIMON, Judge.

Appellant, Deberá J. Sanders (wife) appeals from the trial court’s Decree of Dissolution from John M. Sanders (husband).

On appeal she contends that: (1) the part of the decree allocating the marital and non-marital portions of the United Parcel Service’s (UPS) stock to husband and wife is so vague and ambiguous that it renders that portion of the decree unenforceable and a nullity; (2) the part of the decree which required wife to share the tax consequences of any liquidation of the stock is erroneous because it is a conditional judgment which is necessarily dependent on future events; and (3) the trial court erred when it characterized 489 of husband’s shares of stock as separate under the definition of marital property. We affirm.

The decree must be affirmed if it is supported by substantial evidence, it is not against the weight of the evidence, and it neither erroneously declares nor applies the law. Carter v. Carter, 901 S.W.2d 906, 909[1 — 3] (Mo.App.E.D.1995). We must accept as true the evidence and permissible inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the decree and disregard all contrary evidence and inferences. Id. Where there is a conflict in testimony, we defer to the trial court’s determination of the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

In a light most favorable to the decree, the record indicates that husband and wife were married on October 16, 1982. Two children were bom of the marriage. Wife served as a homemaker and was self-employed at various times during the marriage. At all times husband was employed at UPS. The parties’ assets were separate and marital as husband had been employed at UPS for approximately sixteen years prior to his marriage. During his tenure with UPS, he acquired stock in the company through purchases, automatic payroll deductions and a Managers Incentive Plan (the Plan).

The Plan provided that a stock bonus would be given to each qualified employee based upon his performance October 1 through September 30 of a given year. A committee would meet in November of each year to review performance records and send out notices to qualified employees stating how many shares each employee was entitled to receive based upon the position held with the company, the performance of the employ *900 ee, and the profits posted by UPS that year. However, the bonus was not posted to the employee’s stock statement until the following February.

The trial court entered a decree on July 13, 1994. On July 18, 1994, the court withdrew its decree of July 13, 1994 and entered a new decree. Subsequently, wife filed a motion to amend the decree on August 5, 1994. In her motion, she contended that UPS will not transfer or hold in trust for her stock issued during the marriage to husband and therefore, to realize any value from her award, the stock must be sold. In addition, the selling of the stock will create tax consequences that need to be allocated between the parties or taken into account when calculating the division of the property.

On August 11, 1994, husband filed an answer to wife’s motion and filed a motion for rehearing or in the alternative to amend the decree. On that same day, the trial court ruled on wife’s motion, granting it in part and denying it in part. In its order, the court amended the decree reflecting concerns about allocating possible tax consequences.

On October 3,1994, the trial court ruled on husband’s motion, granting it in part, denying it in part and clarifying its August 11, 1994 order. The trial court made amendments to the decree on October 12, 1994, issuing further answers to wife’s motion of August 5, 1994. The final decree issued by the court reads in pertinent part:

9. The Court finds that Husband earned 751 shares of stock prior to marriage. Husband’s Exhibit T indicates a stock split in 1982 and 1991. The Court further finds that any stock acquired by Husband after the date of marriage which is the result of the stock split of those 751 particular shares is Husband’s separate property.
10. The parties are possessed of certain separate, non-marital property, to-wit: ...
B. Separate Property of Husband
2) The 751 shares of UPS stock earned by husband prior to the date of marriage and the shares of stock acquired thereafter in 1982 and 1991 by way of a stock split of those particular shares.
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11.In its division of marital property, the Court is guided by Section 452.330, RSMo. and has determined that each of the parties has contributed to the acquisition of the marital property, the economic circumstances of each of the parties at the time the division of property is to become effective, the conduct of the parties during the marriage, and the value of the property set apart to each of the parties, and the custodial arrangements for the minor children.

⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜

22. All right, title and interest in the parties marital property, listed with their approximate net equity values if known, are awarded and vested in the respective parties as set forth below:

A Marital Property Awarded to Wife 5) Fifty percent (50%) interest in UPS stock after Husband receives that stock designated as separate.
* * * * * *
B. Marital Property Awarded to Husband
5) Fifty percent (50%) interest in UPS stock after Husband receives that stock designated as separate.
⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜
F. In dividing the shares of UPS stock between Husband and Wife, the Court intends to divide the shares equally, and those shares of UPS stock designated as marital are divided equally between the parties per issuance.
G. If property now titled in Husband’s name must be liquidated to satisfy the terms of the Decree as it pertains to setting aside property to Wife and if said liquidation results in tax consequences to Husband, then Wife shall share equally in said tax consequences ...

Initially, we consider wife’s third point because the dispute as to the characterization of the shares of stock should be resolved before reviewing other points. In her third point, she contends that the trial court *901 erred when it characterized 489 shares of husband’s stock as separate under the definition of marital property. The trial court determined that 751 shares of stock were husband’s separate property. Wife only disputes the court’s determination as to 489 shares which were posted to husband’s account in February some four months after the marriage.

Husband testified on direct that the management incentive awards were always based upon performance through September 30th of the year prior to receiving them and that he earned them prior to the marriage.

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Bluebook (online)
933 S.W.2d 898, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1849, 1996 WL 653746, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sanders-v-sanders-moctapp-1996.