Schmalz v. Schmalz

423 P.3d 325
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 3, 2018
DocketS-17-0335
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 423 P.3d 325 (Schmalz v. Schmalz) 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
Schmalz v. Schmalz, 423 P.3d 325 (Wyo. 2018).

Opinion

BOOMGAARDEN, Justice.

[¶1] Appellant, Donald Christian Schmalz (Husband), appeals the district court's decree entered in divorce proceedings involving Husband and appellee, Patricia Jo Ann Schmalz (Wife). Husband challenges provisions in the decree and an incorporated decision letter that allegedly conflict with the district court's statements during trial. We affirm.

ISSUES

We re-phrase the parties' issues as follows:

1. Was the district court prohibited from entering a written decision and a divorce decree that varied from the court's oral statements at trial about whether Husband was in contempt of court and how the court would divide the parties' property?
2. Should this Court grant leave for the district court to hear and decide a motion under W.R.C.P. 60 pending this appeal?

FACTS

[¶2] Wife filed a divorce complaint on July 16, 2016. During the proceedings, the district court ordered Husband to deposit $175,000 with the clerk of district court. The court entered its order on December 5, 2016, and gave Husband ten days within which to deposit the funds. On December 22, 2016, Husband deposited $135,000. The district court held Husband in contempt of court for failing to deposit the full required amount. As a *327sanction for the contempt, the district court ordered Husband to pay Wife's attorney's fees incurred from seeking Husband's compliance with the December 5, 2016, court order. The court ordered Wife's counsel to submit an attorney's fee affidavit prior to trial and stated, "the Court will consider the attorney fee request as part of the final equitable distribution of property and debt in this divorce." Wife timely filed an affidavit for attorney's fees, without objection from Husband. The court did not act on the affidavit before trial, which began about two weeks later.

[¶3] After the parties' closing arguments at trial, Wife's counsel reminded the district court about the affidavit and asked the court to consider it when dividing the property. In its oral pronouncements a short time later, the district court stated:

I do not find, based on the circumstances of this case, I am not going to find Mr. Schmalz in contempt of court, based on hearing all of the evidence in the case, and I'll try to explain that when I get into the decision letter itself. The facts are different than I thought existed at that time, and that will be partially explained in it.

[¶4] The district court issued its decision letter a couple of months later and, contrary to its statements at trial, the court did not reverse its original decision regarding Husband's contempt. Instead, the court noted its previous order finding Husband in contempt and awarded to Wife her contempt-related attorney's fees. As part of the property distributed to Wife, the court directed the clerk of district court to pay Wife the fees out of the funds held by the clerk. The district court incorporated the decision letter in a divorce decree. Husband timely appealed from the decree.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶5] We apply an abuse of discretion standard when reviewing a district court's division of marital property. Williams v. Williams , 2016 WY 21, ¶ 34, 368 P.3d 539, 550 (Wyo. 2016) (citation omitted). "We afford the [district] court considerable discretion to form a distributive scheme appropriate to the peculiar circumstances of each individual case, and we will not disturb such a scheme absent a showing that the [district] court clearly abused its discretion." Id. (quoting Hoffman v. Hoffman , 2004 WY 68, ¶ 9, 91 P.3d 922, 925 (Wyo. 2004) ) "The fundamental question this Court must ask is whether the district court could reasonably conclude as it did." Porter v. Porter , 2017 WY 77, ¶ 12, 397 P.3d 196, 198 (Wyo. 2017) (citation omitted). We apply the same standard of review to determine whether a district court entered an improper order in light of what is claimed to be a prior binding oral ruling. See Carbaugh v. Nichols , 2014 WY 2, ¶ 14, 315 P.3d 1175, 1178 (Wyo. 2014).

DISCUSSION

[¶6] Husband challenges the discrepancy between the district court's statements at the divorce trial and the content of the decision letter and divorce decree. By issuing a written decision contrary to its oral pronouncements, Husband argues the district court improperly modified its prior oral ruling distributing the parties' property. He asks us to reverse the district court's decree and letter based on our holding in Johnson v. Johnson , 851 P.2d 4 (1993). Alternatively, Husband suggests the district court may have created the discrepancy by mistake. Husband notes that W.R.C.P. 60(a) would allow the district court to correct an error, but he argues he was unable to simultaneously pursue a Rule 60 motion and comply with his deadline to appeal the divorce decree to this Court. He asks us to remand to the district court, or grant leave for the district court, to consider a motion under Rule 60.

[¶7] Regarding Husband's first issue, Wife claims the court's oral statements were not a final order and, pursuant to Forbis v. Forbis , 2009 WY 41, 203 P.3d 421 (Wyo. 2009), the court had discretion to change its decision before entering a final divorce decree. We agree.

[¶8] The district court in Forbis presided over divorce proceedings involving a boat, among other property. Id. ¶ 4, 203 P.3d at 423. At trial, the district court said it would distribute the boat to the wife. Id. Two days later, the court notified the parties by letter *328that it had actually intended to award the boat to the husband.

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Bluebook (online)
423 P.3d 325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmalz-v-schmalz-wyo-2018.