Sauer v. Newman

666 S.W.2d 811, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 3604
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 17, 1984
DocketNo. 46869
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 666 S.W.2d 811 (Sauer v. Newman) 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
Sauer v. Newman, 666 S.W.2d 811, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 3604 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

SNYDER, Judge.

This is an equitable action in which the respondent husband sued to obtain a share of the proceeds of the sale of a business, marital property which was not distributed to the parties in an earlier dissolution action. The appellant wife counterclaimed for a division of other marital property not disclosed by the husband to the court in the dissolution action (the issue of undisclosed marital property was not argued on appeal), and for an increase in child support.

The trial court awarded the husband $45,927.20 as his share of the proceeds of the sale of the business and rendered judgment in the husband’s favor on the wife’s counterclaim. As part of the judgment for $45,927.20 in favor of the husband the trial court ruled that if ,the wife failed to pay the amount of the judgment the husband could reduce the amount of his child support obligation. The wife appeals. The judgment is affirmed as modified.

The wife contends the trial court erred in: (1) admitting into evidence certain parol statements concerning the intent of the parties to divide the marital debt of the disputed business, known as “Station West;” (2) ordering appellant to pay $45,-927.20; (3) ordering a reduction in child support payments if the $45,927.20 judgment were not paid; and (4) not ordering an increase in the amount of child support.

In 1978, during the parties’ marriage, the wife became interested in acquiring a busi[813]*813ness known as “Station West.” In order to acquire the business, wife and husband jointly borrowed the principal sum of $40,-000.00 at nine per cent interest from the Bank of St. Mary’s. The loan, which was a monthly installment loan with a balloon payment at the end of five years, was secured by a deed of trust on a farm which was the husband’s separate property. The $40,000.00 was used to pay the entire purchase price of the business.

A dissolution petition was filed three days after the $40,000.00 note was signed. The parties entered into a property settlement which was incorporated into the dissolution decree. Although the property settlement failed to mention or divide Station West, the agreement by implication referred to the debt incurred to acquire the business:

3. The parties have interests in two farms, located in Perry County, Missouri, one such farm consisting of approximately 93 acres more or less, and the other consisting of approximately 165 acres. Copies of deeds to said farms are attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference as if fully set out herein. Upon the dissolution of this marriage, wife agrees to execute a quit claim deed in favor of husband for said farms and husband agrees to pay all obligations secured thereby.
12. Husband is to immediately upon the dissolution of this marriage execute a promissory note specifying his obligation for those sums evidenced in paragraph No. 6 above. Husband further agrees to simultaneously therewith execute appropriate second deeds of trust to secure said obligations with the home on Route # 1, Perryville, Missouri and the two (2) farms mentioned above as the subject of said deeds of trust.

Paragraph 6 set forth cash amounts which husband agreed to pay to wife in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981, a total of $83,-500.00 to be paid in varying amounts.

The wife operated the Station West business and paid the monthly installments on the purchase money note until September, 1980. Then Station West, which was never a very successful enterprise, was forced to move and lost a substantial amount of business. The wife stopped making the installment payments on the note, thus forcing the husband to make the payments or lose his farm. She also sold her interest in the business for $55,000.00, $50,000.00 of which she placed in a revocable trust for the benefit of the parties’ two children.

After assuming the responsibility to pay the note, husband brought the instant action seeking a division of the proceeds of the sale of Station West, a marital asset. Husband sought, and the trial court awarded him, a share of the $55,000.00 sale price which corresponded to the amount of the debt he assumed. Wife’s counterclaims for a division of marital property allegedly undisclosed by husband and for an increase in child support were denied.

Wife first asserts that the trial court erred in allowing parol evidence of the parties’ intentions regarding payment of the note and ownership of the business. Wife’s brief does not point to specific instances in the record where the trial court erroneously admitted parol evidence, but merely argues that the trial court should not have allowed any testimony about the intent of the parties concerning who was to pay the purchase money debt owing to the Bank of St. Mary’s. The point is denied.

Although wife’s counsel at numerous times voiced an objection that parol evidence was being admitted, substantial evidence of the parties’ intent that the wife pay the Bank of St. Mary’s loan was received without objection.

There was nothing impermissible about the receipt of the evidence about the interests of the parties in the marital asset of Station West. The wife confuses marital asset with marital debt. Husband had no intention of varying the terms of the property settlement agreement. The agreement required him to pay the loan, which he did. However, even though the husband has the obligation to pay the debt, the [814]*814property settlement agreement is silent as to the division of Station West.

The trial court was entitled to hear evidence about the interest of husband in Station West which was marital property. § 452.330 RSMo.1978 (1982 Cum.Supp.). The law includes the contribution of a spouse as a factor to consider in the division of marital property. Evidence of the parties’ contributions to the enterprise was admissible. § 452.330.1(1) RSMo.1978 (1982 Cum.Supp).

Moreover, there is no indication that the property settlement agreement was the entire agreement of the parties. Indeed, the fact that Station West was left out of the agreement indicates that the contract was incomplete. The parol evidence rule applies only to integrated agreements. Rufkahr Const. Co. v. Weber, 658 S.W.2d 489, 497[5, 6] (Mo.App.1983).

Wife’s second contention is that the trial court erred in granting husband an interest in Station West equal to $45,927.20 because: (1) the parties orally agreed to allow wife to retain Station West; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in making the division because the trial court failed to consider the factors set forth in § 452.330.1 RSMo.1978; and (3) the trial court assessed the value of Station West as of a date two years after the dissolution. The points are denied.

Was there a binding oral agreement that appellant was to have all the business? Although there is some evidentiary support for appellant’s position, the more reasonable view of the evidence is that the parties agreed that wife was to operate the business for her benefit and be responsible for both the assets and the liabilities of the business. It was still marital property and the parties agree it was not divided either in the property settlement agreement or by the trial court in the dissolution action.

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Bluebook (online)
666 S.W.2d 811, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 3604, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sauer-v-newman-moctapp-1984.