Shellie P. App v. William App, Jr.

CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 11, 2012
Docket67A01-1203-DR-99
StatusUnpublished

This text of Shellie P. App v. William App, Jr. (Shellie P. App v. William App, Jr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shellie P. App v. William App, Jr., (Ind. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

FILED Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as precedent or cited before any Oct 11 2012, 8:31 am court except for the purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, CLERK collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:

MICHAEL F. VERTESCH MELINDA K. JACKMAN-HANLIN Indianapolis, Indiana Plainfield, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

SHELLIE P. APP, ) ) Appellant-Respondent, ) ) vs. ) No. 67A01-1203-DR-99 ) WILLIAM APP, JR., ) ) Appellee-Petitioner. )

APPEAL FROM THE PUTNAM SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable Charles D. Bridges, Judge Cause No. 67D01-1006-DR-152

October 11, 2012

MEMORANDUM DECISION – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

BAKER, Judge Appellant-respondent Shellie P. App (Wife) appeals the trial court’s order

dissolving her marriage from appellee-petitioner William App, Jr., (Husband). More

particularly, Wife argues that the trial court erred by excluding pre-marital assets from

the marital estate and by failing to equally divide the marital estate. Additionally, Wife

maintains that the trial court erred by concluding that she is not disabled and, therefore,

not entitled to permanent maintenance and attorney fees.

Pertaining to issues surrounding their son, Wife contends that the trial court erred

by ordering her to pay child support without receiving and adopting a verified child

support obligation worksheet or entering parallel findings and conclusions. Similarly,

Wife asserts that the trial court erred by entering a post-secondary educational expense

order without receiving and adopting a verified post-secondary educational expense

worksheet or entering parallel findings and conclusions. Finally, Wife contends that the

trial court erred by failing to specify which party should claim their son as a dependent

for filing federal and state income tax returns.

Concluding that the trial court erred by entering a post-secondary educational

expense order in the absence of a worksheet or its own findings and conclusions and by

failing to specify which parent should claim the child as a dependent for tax purposes but

finding no other error, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

2 FACTS

` Husband and Wife were married on July 9, 1999. There were no children born of

this marriage; however, Husband adopted Wife’s two minor children during the marriage.

Only L.A. was not emancipated at the time of the dissolution.

Property and Debt

In 1989, Husband was gifted land from his father located at 3026 South County

Road 550 in West Greencastle. A few years later, Husband purchased a section of land

from a neighbor to allow Husband to construct a driveway. Beginning in April 1996,

Husband began building a house on this property. When Husband was building his

home, he took out a construction loan. After receiving the construction loan, Husband

began taking the necessary steps to secure a mortgage on the residence.

On February 24, 1997, Husband took out the first mortgage on the property. This

mortgage was for $93,000. In 2004, Husband refinanced his mortgage for $157,500.

Wife’s name was added to the deed at that time, but she was not included on the

mortgage. This refinanced mortgage consolidated several debts of the marriage,

including, but not limited to, vehicles and credit cards.

Employment

Husband is a member of the Iron Workers Union and receives work by being

placed on jobs through the Union Hall. The amount of work Husband receives varies,

but he rarely works fifty-two weeks a year. The amount that Husband is paid per hour

3 also varies. When Husband is not working, he receives $390 in weekly unemployment

income.

Husband began working for the Iron Workers Union before marrying Wife, but he

left in 1995 to work for Chrysler. Husband worked for Chrysler until 2007 when he

returned to the Iron Workers Union. Husband has earned retirement benefits through the

Iron Workers Union and through Chrysler.

Wife was not employed outside the home throughout the marriage. The last time

that Wife held a job was in 1999, when the Husband and Wife were married. In 2009,

Wife obtained a substitute teacher’s license, but has not used it. Wife has rarely worked

outside of the home throughout her adult life.

In 2007, Wife was in a vehicle accident. In 2011, she filed for Social Security

Disability, but her application was denied. Wife requested a review of the initial

determination, and she was denied again after the review process. Wife has not

attempted to obtain employment.

Dissolution

On June 24, 2010, Husband filed for dissolution of marriage from Wife. As noted

above, at the time of the dissolution, only one child, L.A., was not emancipated. L.A.

was eighteen years old, still in high school, and under the care and control of Husband.

The parties agreed that Husband would be awarded primary physical custody of L.A.

Wife was awarded parenting time with L.A. and was ordered to pay child support

according to the Indiana Child Support Guidelines. Throughout the separation period,

4 Wife was not ordered to pay any child support, and Wife did not assist in supporting L.A.

during the separation period.

As for the property settlement, Wife requested that she be awarded a portion of

Husband’s retirement benefits that were earned before their marriage and equity in the

marital residence that had accrued before the marriage. Wife also requested that she be

awarded permanent maintenance because of her disability, which she claimed did not

permit her to obtain employment. Additionally, Wife requested that she be awarded over

50% of the marital estate and over $17,000 in attorney fees.

On November 22, 2011, the trial court held a final hearing. Following this

hearing, Husband and Wife submitted their proposed findings of fact and conclusions of

law as ordered by the trial court. On February 10, 2012, the trial court issued its findings

of fact and conclusions thereon in its decree dissolving the marriage, awarding custody of

L.A. to Husband, and ordering Wife to pay child support and post-secondary educational

expenses.

The Decree

In its order, the trial court noted that Husband had received a $100,000 buy-out

when he left Chrysler and that he had used these funds to buy “a swimming pool for the

kids to enjoy at the marital residence, pa[y] for concrete flooring for the barn located at

the marital residence, and pa[y] $30,000 towards the outstanding mortgage on the marital

residence.” Appellant’s App. p. 18.

5 Additionally, the trial court found that the parties had refinanced the marital

residence in 2004 for $157,500, adding approximately $64,500 debt against the marital

residence. On March 2, 2011, the marital residence appraised at $180,000, and the

mortgage payoff was $105,196.42 on June 1, 2010. Husband made all the mortgage

payments from the date he filed for dissolution until the final hearing date.

The trial court also observed that although the marital residence had increased in

value by $37,000 during the marriage, the debt against the marital residence had

increased by $12,000 during the marriage. Moreover, the debt against the marital

residence would have been much higher if $30,000 of Husband’s Chrysler buy-out had

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