Retirement Can be Valued at Time of Separation

Donnelly v. Donnelly, 2013 UT App 84 Utah Court of Appeals April 4, 2013

In a temporary order the trial court ordered Father pay child support, alimony, and the children’s medical expenses.  Mother relocated and Father bore the costs of visiting the children.

At trial, the court entered a decree awarding lower child support and alimony amounts, but did not make the amounts retroactive.  After the trial, Mother moved to divide retirement.  The court divided the retirement with value at the time of separation.  The Court also denied Father’s motion for credit towards his arrearage for the expenses he incurred to visit the children.   Father appeals the alimony award and expenses incurred for parent-time.  Mother appeals the valuation date of the retirement.

As to alimony, Father failed to preserve the pretrial order of alimony.  Father made several arguments about Wife’s diminished need while living with family and her income from gifts from family.  The Court of Appeals found that the trial court took note of gifts when making the alimony award and the award was not an abuse of discretion.

As to reimbursement of transportation costs for Father’s parent-time, the Court of Appeals found no statutory authority for the requested reimbursement and it was not an abuse of discretion to deny the reimbursement because Father failed to raise the issue at trial and made no motion to reopen evidence to address that issue.

As to valuation of the retirement, the Court found that generally retirements are valued at the time of the decree, however, when significant time (in this case 5 years) passes between the separation and Decree, it is not an abuse of discretion to value it at the time of separation.

Full opinion available at: http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/appopin/donnelly040413.pdf

Failure to Submit to Corporate Formalities Will Subject Husband and Wife to Corporate Debt.

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Olson v. Olson, UT App. 22, (Utah Court of Appeals, February 4, 2010).

When Parties divorced, they had significant business debt.  Parties had so commingled the business and personal debts and assets that the business was simply and alter ego of the parties.  The trial court divided the business debt between the parties and ordered Husband to pay wife $1000 per month after the sale of the home.  Wife appealed those issues and many others including the valuation of the marital home, and the exclusion of her expert. 

The Court of appeals declined to rule on a number of the wife’s issues because she did not adequately brief the issues; she failed to show preservation, standard of review, and failed to cite relevant authority.  

The Court of Appeals affirmed all trial court findings.  The parties business failed to be a corporation in all respects. As to alimony, the tying of alimony to the sale of the home was property and shows that she is living rent free and that when they sell the home she will have need.  The court appropriately based the valuation of the home on Husband’s testimony as a knowledgeable owner.  The trial court appropriately excluded Wife’s expert because she had not provided an expert report from him.  A trial court can strike an expert’s testimony when the proponent failed to file an expert report and failed to list him on her witness list as and expert.

Full Decision available at http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/appopin/olson020410.pdf