Archdekin v. Archdekin

• Citation: 562 S.W.3d 298
• Decision Date: 18 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. SC 96640,SC 96640
• Parties: Sybil Anne ARCHDEKIN, Respondent, v. Jarrett Alan ARCHDEKIN, Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Missouri

562 S.W.3d 298

Sybil Anne ARCHDEKIN, Respondent,
v.
Jarrett Alan ARCHDEKIN, Appellant.

No. SC 96640

Supreme Court of Missouri, en banc.

Opinion issued December 18, 2018

The husband was represented by Craig D. Ritchie of Ritchie, Soper & Schutt LLC in St. Joseph, (816) 387-8200.

The wife was represented by James D. Boggs of The Boggs Law Firm in Kansas City, (816) 587-6688.

Patricia Breckenridge, judge

Jarrett Alan Archdekin ("Husband") appeals from the trial court’s final judgment dissolving his marriage to Sybil Anne Archdekin ("Wife"). In 2013, the trial court initially entered its Interlocutory Judgment Entry for Dissolution of Marriage, which dissolved the marriage, divided a small amount of marital property, and, among other things, ordered Husband to pay Wife $1,500 per month in maintenance, retroactive to November 1, 2011. The interlocutory judgment, however, did not divide all the parties' property because of a bankruptcy stay. The trial court twice modified the interlocutory judgment to correct clerical errors and to attempt to authorize appeal of the interlocutory provisions pursuant to Rule 74.01(b). On April 19, 2016, the trial court entered its Final Judgment Entry and Dissolution of Marriage, which divided the remainder of the parties' property and, again, ordered Husband to pay Wife $1,500 per month in maintenance retroactive to November 1, 2011.

On appeal, Husband asserts the maintenance awarded in the interlocutory judgments was not final and was, thereby, erroneous because it was made prior to the final division of the parties' property and awarded maintenance retroactively. He also contends the trial court erred in finding Wife met the statutory criteria for maintenance and in the amount of maintenance awarded.

This Court finds the trial court’s Second Amended Interlocutory Judgment was not a final, appealable judgment because it did not order a complete distribution of marital property. The trial court’s award of maintenance, therefore, was not final until entry of the April 19, 2016 judgment. Likewise, the trial court’s retroactive award of maintenance in the interlocutory judgments was erroneous because a retroactive maintenance award is not authorized under section 452.335.¹ Nevertheless, although the need for and amount of maintenance was erroneously determined prior to the final disposition of property, such error was not material because the final division of property did not make any significant change in the award of property to the parties.

Additionally, in its final judgment, the trial court erroneously applied a modification of maintenance standard based on the invalid award of maintenance from the interlocutory order. But Husband was not prejudiced by the application of the improper standard because the trial court

562 S.W.3d 302

made alternative findings under the proper standard that did not materially change the award of maintenance.

Finally, the trial court did not misapply the law in determining Wife’s need for maintenance or the amount of maintenance because any errors were not material and, therefore, do not require reversal of the maintenance award. The award of retroactive maintenance in the final judgment is reversed. In all other respects, the final judgment is affirmed.

Facts and Procedural History

Husband and Wife were married in 1994. Three sons were born of the marriage. For most of the marriage, Wife was a stay-at-home mother who worked occasional jobs babysitting and cleaning homes. Husband was a real estate developer. He owned or had a significant ownership interest in three businesses: Archdekin Investments, Inc., Earthworks Excavation Company, LLC, and The Commons Development Group, LLC. Husband and Wife personally guaranteed the businesses' debts, and the debts were cross-collateralized with numerous lending institutions. The parties' marital home, lake home, and automobiles were owned by the businesses, and the parties' personal expenses for mortgage payments, utilities, clothing, food, and credit cards were paid from funds of the businesses.

In 2011, the parties separated, and Wife filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. Husband filed a counter-petition for dissolution. Wife then filed a motion to join Husband’s three businesses as necessary parties. The trial court sustained the motion, and the businesses were named as third-party respondents in Wife’s first and second amended petitions for dissolution of marriage.² Trial was held February 23 and April 29, 2013. At the conclusion of the trial, the court took the matter under advisement. Before the trial court could enter a judgment, however, The Commons Development Group, LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which resulted in an automatic stay of any litigation related to the company.

On July 23, 2013, the trial court entered its Interlocutory Judgment Entry for Dissolution of Marriage. In it, the trial court made the statutory findings required by section 452.305 for dissolution of marriage. The trial court found the best interests of the minor children were served by awarding Husband and Wife joint legal and physical custody and by ordering the parenting plan set out therein.

For purposes of child support and maintenance, the trial court found Wife’s income as an administrative assistant at Missouri Western University was $2,142 per month and imputed income to Husband of $5,000 per month. The court found the presumed child support amount to be paid by Husband was $526. It then ordered Husband to pay Wife child support in the monthly amount of $454, retroactive to November 1, 2011, the month Husband first entered his appearance, and payable until the children are emancipated. The trial court also found Wife could not support herself with her income and the assets awarded to her and was entitled to $2,000 in monthly maintenance. But it ordered Husband to pay Wife $1,500 in monthly maintenance, retroactive to November 1, 2011. It also ordered that maintenance should continue until it is modified, either party is deceased, or Wife remarries. It further ordered Husband to pay Wife $5,000 for attorney fees and suit monies.

562 S.W.3d 303

The trial court awarded Wife a small checking account and a few items of marital and nonmarital household and personal goods of nominal value. Husband was awarded the remainder of the marital property, excluding the property and assets of the three businesses. Although the trial court found it was unable to assign a value to the three businesses, it found Husband had represented to financial institutions he had a net worth in excess of $7 million. The trial court further found the businesses were Husband’s "alter ego" used to shield his income from creditors, and the "corporate veil should be pierced in order that equity be done in this case." The trial court "tabled" division of the property and assets of the three businesses until the "bankruptcy stay is lifted."

After hearing post-trial motions, the trial court entered its First Amended Interlocutory Judgment, correcting the presumed amount of child support and its finding as to the amount of maintenance to which Wife was entitled to match the $1,500 in monthly maintenance awarded. The trial court also added language that the judgment was "final for purposes of appeals as to all issues herein addressed."

Husband and the businesses filed notices of appeal. The court of appeals dismissed the appeals, finding the first interlocutory judgment was not appealable pursuant to Rule 74.01(b).

Archdekin Investments then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On January 14, 2014, the trial court entered a Second Amended Interlocutory Judgment Entry for Dissolution of Marriage identical to the first amended interlocutory judgment except for the addition of language that "there is no just reason for delay." Husband and the third-party respondents again appealed, but the court of appeals dismissed the appeals as untimely.

Husband filed a Motion to Reconsider and Terminate Maintenance Award, asserting for the first time that the trial court erred in ordering him to pay maintenance retroactive to November 1, 2011, because section 452.335 authorizes maintenance to be awarded only prospectively and Wife never filed a motion seeking temporary maintenance pendente lite. He further claimed the maintenance award was erroneous because section 452.335.1 required the court to divide the marital property before determining Wife’s need for maintenance. The trial court overruled Husband’s motion as untimely.

Husband then filed a motion to reopen the evidence and to amend the court’s orders for parenting time and child support. The court heard evidence March 30, 2016, regarding the unresolved property issues and the pending motions. Before trial, the parties reached agreement regarding the division of property, division of debts, and modifications to the child custody and support orders. Wife then dismissed her third-party petition against the businesses.

On April 19, 2016, the trial court executed its Final Judgment Entry for Dissolution of Marriage with its final division of the parties' property and debts. Wife was not awarded any additional property or income producing property from the final division. Husband was awarded all interest in his three businesses, a partial interest in three subdivision lots,...