Thompson v. Thompson

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 26, 2016
Docket1 CA-CV 15-0596-FC
StatusUnpublished

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

Bluebook
Thompson v. Thompson, (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

In re the Matter of:

TROY THOMPSON, Petitioner/Appellant,

v.

JENNIFER A. THOMPSON, Respondent/Appellee.

No. 1 CA-CV 15-0596 FC FILED 5-26-2016

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. FC2012-008217 The Honorable Rodger E. Brodman, Judge

AFFIRMED IN PART; VACATED IN PART; AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS

COUNSEL

Underwood Law Office, Phoenix By Sonya E. Underwood Counsel for Petitioner/Appellant

Carson Messinger PLLC, Phoenix By Michael Nevels Counsel for Respondent/Appellee THOMPSON v. THOMPSON Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Judge Kenton D. Jones delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop and Judge Patricia K. Norris joined.

J O N E S, Judge:

¶1 Troy Thompson (Father) and Jennifer Thompson (Mother) each petitioned the family court to enforce the provisions of its earlier dissolution decree and to modify its child support order. Father also petitioned for a modification of parenting time. Following an evidentiary hearing, the court ruled on the petitions and Father appealed. For the following reasons, we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand with instructions.

FACTS1 AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 Father and Mother were divorced in August 2013. At the time, the family court found Father had a conflicted relationship with his two daughters, S.T. and B.T. (collectively, the Children). The court awarded the parties joint legal decision-making authority with Mother having “presumptive decision-making authority.” The court also awarded Mother primary physical custody and, noting concern with Father’s delay in beginning therapeutic reunification services, limited Father’s parenting time to six hours per week. Father was ordered to pay Mother $865 per month in child support, $200 per month for the children’s orthodontic expenses, child support arrearages of $5,871.50, $900 per month in spousal maintenance through December 1, 2016 and then $600 per month through December 1, 2018, and spousal support arrearages of $7,200. Father was also required to provide medical insurance for the Children and awarded the dependent child tax deduction for S.T. every year and for B.T. every two out of three years.

¶3 Within the decree, the family court ordered an equal division of the parties’ community property, which included UPS common stock and a pension, and an equal division of their community debts to Bank of

1 We view the facts in the light most favorable to upholding the family court’s orders. See Gutierrez v. Gutierrez, 193 Ariz. 343, 346, ¶ 5 (App. 1998) (citing Mitchell v. Mitchell, 152 Ariz. 317, 323 (1987)).

2 THOMPSON v. THOMPSON Decision of the Court

America, Chase, Kohl’s, Genesis, and Cox Communications. The family court ordered the parties to have a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) prepared to properly distribute the pension funds, with the preparation costs to be shared equally. The court also ordered Father to make an equalization payment of $3,911 following allocation of the parties’ vehicles. Mother was awarded seventy-five percent of her attorneys’ fees and costs.

¶4 Shortly after the family court entered the dissolution decree, Mother filed a motion to amend the decree to address allocation of Father’s 401(k) account. In September 2013, the court granted Mother’s motion and ordered the 401(k) account to be split evenly between Mother and Father.

¶5 In February 2014, Father sold all of the UPS stock, including Mother’s portion, without her knowledge. Additionally, he had not paid any portion of his share of the community debts, and both parties were unable to cooperate in preparing the QDRO.

¶6 In December 2014, Mother filed a petition for entry of a separately prepared QDRO and a petition to modify child support. Father counter-petitioned for modification of child support and parenting time and for enforcement of the decree, alleging Mother had not cooperated with the attorney he engaged to prepare the court-ordered QDRO.

¶7 In March 2015, the family court held a resolution management conference, wherein it ordered Mother and Father to each file an affidavit of financial information and requested a family court conciliator to interview the Children. The court directed Mother and Father to each file an individual prehearing memorandum identifying the witnesses and exhibits they intended to present at the hearing and “specify[ing] in detail what you want the Court to do and explain why that is reasonable.” The court also asked the parties to make any requests for findings of fact prior to the evidentiary hearing scheduled for May 2015.

¶8 After considering each parties’ prehearing memorandum and holding a hearing, the family court denied Father’s petition to modify parenting time; increased Father’s child support obligation to $1,175 per month; terminated Father’s spousal maintenance obligation as a result of Mother’s remarriage; ordered Father pay Mother $300 per month until his spousal maintenance arrearage of $3,529.48 plus interest of $618 was satisfied; ordered Father pay $8,474 to satisfy his portion of the debts owed to Bank of America and Chase; and determined Mother was entitled to $18,110 including interest from the sale of her share of the UPS stock. To

3 THOMPSON v. THOMPSON Decision of the Court

resolve the impasse in the preparation of the QDRO, the court ordered the parties to hire a designated attorney to prepare a QDRO that evenly divided Father’s pension and 401(k) account. Because the court found Father had “demonstrated he had no ability to pay Mother without using his 401(k) plan,” it ordered the amounts set forth above be withdrawn from Father’s 401(k) account to satisfy those obligations.

¶9 The family court further found Father behaved unreasonably by refusing to pay his debts as delineated within the decree, selling stock that had been awarded to Mother, “dragging his feet” in the preparation of a QDRO, and failing to engage in court-ordered counseling. It therefore again awarded Mother seventy-five percent of her reasonable attorneys’ fees pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) section 25-324(A).2 Father timely appealed, and we have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 12- 120.21(A)(1) and -2101(A)(1).

DISCUSSION

I. The UPS Stock Sale Proceeds

¶10 Father first argues the family court erred in awarding Mother $18,110 from Father’s 401(k) account to compensate her for her share of the proceeds resulting from Father’s unauthorized sale of the UPS stock. The issue presents a mixed question of fact and law. Muchesko v. Muchesko, 191 Ariz. 265, 271 (App. 1997) (citation omitted). We accept the family court’s findings of fact unless clearly erroneous and review its legal conclusions de novo. Id. at 271-72.

A. Award Amount

¶11 Father first challenges the amount of the award. He argues Mother did not petition to “receive more than she was entitled to receive on the date that the stock was sold in February of 2014” and that the court therefore erred in finding Mother was entitled to $18,110. Alternatively, he argues that because Mother did not request a specific amount, the calculation should have been left to the attorney preparing the QDRO.

¶12 Father cites Cullen v. Auto-Owners Insurance, 218 Ariz. 417, 419, ¶ 6 (2008), and Villalba v. Villalba, 131 Ariz. 556, 558 (1982), to support his argument that he is entitled to fair notice of the relief sought and that

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