Sutton v. Sutton

CourtNebraska Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 2, 2013
DocketA-11-1110
StatusUnpublished

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

Bluebook
Sutton v. Sutton, (Neb. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

IN THE NEBRASKA COURT OF APPEALS

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT ON APPEAL

SUTTON V. SUTTON

NOTICE: THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PERMANENT PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY NEB. CT. R. APP. P. § 2-102(E).

CHARLENE MARIE SUTTON, NOW KNOWN AS CHARLENE MARIE KISS, APPELLEE, V. JOHN JOSEPH SUTTON, JR., APPELLANT.

Filed April 2, 2013. No. A-11-1110.

Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County: LEIGH ANN RETELSDORF, Judge. Affirmed as modified. Matthew S. McKeever, of Copple, Rockey, McKeever & Schlecht, P.C., L.L.O., for appellant. John A. Kinney and Jill M. Mason, of Kinney Law, P.C., L.L.O., for appellee.

INBODY, Chief Judge, and IRWIN and MOORE, Judges. MOORE, Judge. I. INTRODUCTION John Joseph Sutton, Jr., appeals from the order of the district court for Douglas County which dissolved his marriage to Charlene Marie Sutton, now known as Charlene Marie Kiss. John challenges the valuation and determination of marital equity in certain parcels of real estate, the failure to include a certain marital debt in the division of marital debts, the valuation and division of personal property, and the finding that he failed to comply with pretrial orders. Following our de novo review, we find that the district court erred in connection with its determination of the equity in one parcel of real estate, its failure to include a debt in the division of the marital estate, and its determination of the amount John owed under the temporary order. We modify the decree in these respects.

-1- II. BACKGROUND 1. PARTIES The parties were married in April 2004. No children were born of the marriage, but both parties had a child from a prior relationship. At the time of the parties’ marriage, Charlene worked as an accounting manager at the Omaha World-Herald (OWH), where she had been employed for 12 years. John was employed in a company’s collection department. 2. PLEADINGS AND PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS On September 16, 2010, Charlene filed a complaint for dissolution of marriage in the district court. John subsequently filed a pro se voluntary appearance. The district court entered a temporary order on December 3. Among other things, the court ordered John to pay Charlene $907 per month ($1,000 per month less a $93 credit for Charlene’s health and dental insurance), commencing November 4, for the payment of debt and maintenance related to the parties’ marital residence and rental properties. The court also ordered John to provide documentation of his use of $3,000 he took from the parties’ rental account. 3. TRIAL Trial was held on September 22 and October 7, 2011. Charlene appeared with her attorneys, and John appeared pro se. Testimony was given by both parties, and numerous exhibits were received in evidence. We summarize only the relevant evidence as necessary to address the issues on appeal. (a) Charlene’s OWH Stock Charlene acquired OWH stock during her employment. In 2007, Charlene owned a total of 5,850 shares of stock of which 1,620 shares had been acquired prior to this marriage. Charlene sold her OWH stock in 2007 when she left her employment, realizing net proceeds from the stock distribution in the sum of $170,418.15. These funds were ultimately used in connection with several real estate transactions discussed below. The district court determined that 56 percent of the stock proceeds were marital and that the balance of the proceeds was Charlene’s premarital property. Neither party disputes this finding in this appeal. Therefore, we need not detail the evidence regarding this calculation further. (b) Real Estate There was evidence concerning various marital and nonmarital real properties owned by the parties, and we have set forth the evidence concerning only those properties relevant to the issues raised by John on appeal. (i) Plaza Circle The Plaza Circle property in Omaha, Nebraska, was the parties’ marital residence. The parties purchased the Plaza Circle property in August 2009 for $315,000. Charlene made a contribution of $71,579.29 from her OWH stock proceeds toward the downpayment on the Plaza Circle property. Charlene obtained an appraisal of the property in January 2011, which determined that the fair market value of the property was $280,000. The approximate mortgage

-2- balance on the marital residence as of August 25, 2011, was $224,478.70, with $1,530.02 in escrow. John testified that the Plaza Circle property was worth at least $325,000. He did not, however, offer a current appraisal to support the asserted value. John submitted exhibits including a July 2009 appraisal valuing the property at $315,000 at the time the parties purchased the property, a personal financial statement from February 2010 valuing the residence at $375,000, and information from the Douglas County assessor’s Web site showing the assessed value of the property in 2011 was $287,800. Charlene testified upon John’s cross-examination of her that the parties came up with the information in the personal financial statement together and that it would have been a guess. (ii) Ponderosa Road The parties purchased a vacant lot on Ponderosa Road, in Gretna, Nebraska, in March 2006 for $96,770. In purchasing this property, the parties obtained two loans. The first loan in the principal amount of $91,770 was an interest-only loan with a maturity date of March 16, 2008. The second loan was for the earnest deposit with a principal balance of $5,000. The parties paid the second loan in full on March 3, 2006. In 2008, the parties renegotiated the maturity date of the first loan from March 16, 2008, to March 16, 2010. In February and March 2010, Charlene paid off the first loan, using a total of $85,839.19 of her OWH stock proceeds and $10,000 from her individual checking account. Charlene valued the Ponderosa Road property at $42,629 based on the 2010 tax assessed value of the lot and her personal opinion. John did not dispute Charlene’s valuation of the Ponderosa Road property, but he did offer documents which showed that the 2011 Sarpy County tax assessed value of the lot was $41,219. (iii) Wirt Circle and North 65th Avenue The parties purchased rental property located on Wirt Circle in Omaha. Charlene obtained an appraisal of the property showing that its fair market value was $108,000. At the time of trial, the outstanding mortgage balance on the Wirt Circle rental property was $70,869. Charlene testified that in order to avoid having to obtain private mortgage insurance, the parties took a second mortgage on John’s premarital residence located on North 65th Avenue in Omaha and used the funds to purchase the Wirt Circle property. John did not obtain an appraisal of the Wirt Circle property, but he testified that its fair market value was $85,000. The only evidence John provided in support of his position was information from the Douglas County assessor’s Web site, valuing the property at $110,000 in 2011. John testified that the district court should consider the second mortgage of approximately $21,269 on the North 65th Avenue property in determining the value of the Wirt Circle property, since this mortgage was used to purchase the Wirt Circle property. John offered exhibits in an attempt to substantiate the amount of the mortgage, including a document from a credit union showing a second loan on the North 65th Avenue property in the balance of $16,950.25 as of July 31, 2011.

-3- (iv) Bauman Avenue Charlene assisted her son in purchasing real property located on Bauman Avenue in Omaha in January 2008. Charlene contributed $14,801.78 from her OWH stock proceeds toward the downpayment. According to Charlene, her son pays the mortgage each month and he claims the home on his taxes each year. Charlene considers the property to be her son’s and considers herself merely a coborrower on the loan.

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Bluebook (online)
Sutton v. Sutton, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sutton-v-sutton-nebctapp-2013.