Valerie L. Bremer v. William G. Bremer

116 A.3d 163, 2015 R.I. LEXIS 67
CourtSupreme Court of Rhode Island
DecidedMay 29, 2015
Docket12-23, 12-239, 14-254
StatusPublished

This text of 116 A.3d 163 (Valerie L. Bremer v. William G. Bremer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Valerie L. Bremer v. William G. Bremer, 116 A.3d 163, 2015 R.I. LEXIS 67 (R.I. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

Justice ROBINSON, for the Court.

Before the Court are three appeals filed by Valerie L. Bremer from various proceedings in the Family Court surrounding her divorce from William G. Bremer. This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. After a close review of the record and careful consideration of the parties’ arguments, we are satisfied that cause has not been shown and that these appeals may be decided at this time. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Family Court in all respects.

I

Facts and Travel

The parties’ divorce was granted from the bench on May 80, 2008, and a final judgment of divorce was ultimately entered on February 19, 2010. However, that was not the end of the matter — because, on June 9, 2010, Valerie filed a complaint in Superior Court contending that she had an interest in two businesses that she and William had operated during their marriage. 1 William then filed two motions in the Family Court seeking clarification of the division of assets, specifically as to the businesses. On March 26, *165 2012, the Chief Judge of the Family Court issued an order assigning William’s motion for clarification to the Family Court justice who had presided over the original divorce hearings. Valerie’s first appeal is from that assignment order. Subsequently, on June 8, 2012 (after rendering a bench decision on April 4, 2012), the Family Court justice to whom the matter was assigned entered an order clarifying the final judgment of divorce and awarding the businesses to William. That order forms the basis of Valerie’s second appeal.

Quite apart from the issues involving the businesses, William moved, in Family Court, to have Valerie adjudged in contempt due to her failure to meet the terms of the February 19, 2010 final judgment of divorce. On June 27, 2013, the Chief Judge of the Family Court entered an extremely thorough and well-thought-out order adjudging Valerie in contempt and ordering her to comply with the final judgment of divorce or face incarceration. Also included in the order was an award of interest against Valerie. Valerie’s third appeal is an appeal from the order adjudging her in contempt. 2 We shall address each of Valerie’s appeals in turn.

II

Analysis

A

The Assignment Order

We turn first to the appeal from the order by the Chief Judge of the Family Court assigning the motion for clarification to the Family Court justice who had presided over the original divorce action. This appeal is utterly baseless. This Court does not review such interlocutory orders. See Coit v. Tillinghast, 91 A.3d 838, 843 (R.I.2014) (noting that “[interlocutory orders are those that are provisional or temporary, or that decide some intermediate point or matter but are not a final decision of the whole matter” and further stating that “[generally, interlocutory orders are not subject to review”) (internal quotation marks omitted). However, even if we were to address the merits, it would be our conclusion that the Chief Judge acted appropriately in view of the administrative powers granted to her under G.L. 1956 § 8-10-14. 3 We consider it to be particularly admirable that the Chief Judge did everything in her power to move the motion for clarification forward in a manner that ensured the greatest judicial efficiency and fairness to the parties. Thus, Valerie’s first appeal is unavailing.

B

The Clarification Order

Like her appeal of the assignment order, Valerie’s appeal from the order clarifying the division of assets is unconvincing. We apply a deferential standard of review to a decision of the Family Court. Ruffel v. Ruffel, 900 A.2d *166 1178, 1184 (R.I.2006). We will not “disturb the trial justice’s findings of fact unless it can be shown that he or she has overlooked or misconceived relevant and material evidence or was otherwise clearly wrong.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Valerie contends that a decision was improperly rendered on the motion for clarification before she was able to enter evidence. However, after a thorough review of the record in this case, it is clear to this Court that she never asked the Family Court justice presiding over the motion for clarification for an evidentiary hearing; nor did she ask to make an offer of proof, despite the fact that the Family' Court justice specifically asked if she had anything that she “wish[ed] to present.” Valerie makes an additional claim that the order clarifying the division of assets varied from what the Family Court justice stated from the bench; however, this Court perceives no material difference between the bench decision and the order. We would add that the Family Court justice expressly approved the order as being in accordance with his bench decision after hearing argument from both parties on the subject.

With respect to any challenge by Valerie on appeal to the actual substance of the order clarifying the division of assets, we once again find her assertions unpersuasive. The decision on the motion for clarification simply reflected what was decided as a part of the original divorce. The transcript from the May 30, 2008 decision — which divided the parties’ marital assets as a part of the original divorce— indicates that the Family Court justice did, at that time, assign value to the businesses. 4 As the Family Court justice recognized in his decision on the motion for clarification, he assigned a value to the equipment owned by the companies, a house titled to one of the companies, accounts in the name of the companies, and the companies’ goodwill. Moreover, the Family Court justice, in his original division of assets and again when he clarified that division, stated that he was “assigning] 50 percent of [the assets] to each of [the parties]” It is clear, as a matter of fundamental arithmetic, that the total assets of the parties could only be divided on the basis of 50 percent going to Valerie and 50 percent going to William if William was awarded the businesses. Consequently, the ruling on the motion for clarification did no more than explicitly state what the Family Court had already decided; it did not break any new ground. Accordingly, it is our conclusion that the Family Court justice did not commit any error in issuing a decision on William’s motion for clarification. No argument raised by Valerie on appeal has convinced us otherwise. 5

C

The Contempt Order

Lastly, we must address Valerie’s appeal of the order adjudging her in contempt. This Court has recognized that “[t]he authority to find a party in civil contempt is among the inherent powers of our courts.” Now Conner, LLC v. Better

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Bluebook (online)
116 A.3d 163, 2015 R.I. LEXIS 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valerie-l-bremer-v-william-g-bremer-ri-2015.