Barnes v. Barnes

• Decision Date: 13 July 1993
• Docket Number: No. 920608-CA,920608-CA
• Citation: 857 P.2d 257
• Parties: Kathleen R. BARNES, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Steven Lyn BARNES, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 257

857 P.2d 257

Kathleen R. BARNES, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Steven Lyn BARNES, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 920608-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

July 13, 1993.

Carolyn L. Driscoll, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.

Stuart W. Hinckley, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and appellee.

Before BILLINGS, GARFF and ORME, JJ.

BILLINGS, Presiding Judge:

In this divorce action, Steve Barnes appeals challenging the trial court's decision on custody, alimony, and division of his retirement fund. We reverse and remand.

FACTS

Kathy and Steve Barnes married in September 1972. They have three children: Jamie born in 1976, Adam born in 1979, and Jennifer born in 1982.

During the marriage Steve worked for Savage Brothers where he had a retirement plan. When Savage Brothers sold its operation Steve received a $14,000 payout from his retirement plan. Steve continued to work for the new owners. At the time of the trial Steve earned a gross monthly salary of $2400 per month.

During the marriage Kathy was the primary caretaker for the children. She also returned to school to acquire her high school degree. She then obtained a job as an audit clerk for United Parcel Service. Kathy still works there part-time earning $1026 per month.

The Barneses separated twice before their divorce. Steve and the children lived together in the family home. During the first separation Kathy moved in with her mother. She continued, however, to provide significant care for the children. The first separation lasted approximately 18 months. Kathy and Steve attempted to reconcile and Kathy moved back into the marital home for eight months.

In January 1991, Kathy filed for divorce. Kathy did not appear at the temporary custody hearing because her counsel misinformed her of the date. The court awarded temporary custody to Steve because Steve had possession of the home and custody of the children during the first separation. Kathy again moved in with her mother. Kathy however continued to provide care for the children in the mornings and afternoons.

After trial, the court awarded Kathy custody of the children subject to visitation by Steve. The trial court also awarded Kathy $500 per month alimony. The trial court divided the retirement money Steve received from working at Savage Brothers by giving each party one half of the $14,000 initially paid to Steve.

On appeal, Steve argues there are deficiencies in the trial court's decisions concerning the custody and alimony awards: (1) The trial court's findings of fact are inadequate; (2) The evidence is insufficient to support the findings; and (3) The trial court's decisions were an abuse of discretion. Finally, he asserts the trial court erred in dividing the full $14,000 he received from Savage Brothers.

Kathy contends the custody and alimony awards are proper. She concedes, however, the division of the retirement fund should be recalculated.

I. CUSTODY

A. Standard of Review

"Trial courts are given broad discretion in making child custody awards." Sukin v. Sukin, 842 P.2d 922, 923 (Utah App.1992) (citing Maughan v. Maughan, 770 P.2d 156, 159 (Utah App.1989)). "The trial court's decision regarding custody will not be upset 'absent a showing of an abuse of discretion or manifest injustice.' " Id. (quoting Maughan, 770 P.2d at 159). "We give great deference to the trial court's findings of fact and do not overturn them unless they are clearly erroneous." Riche v. Riche, 784 P.2d 465, 467 (Utah App.1989). " 'However, to ensure the court acted within its broad discretion, the facts and reasons for the court's decision must be set forth fully in appropriate findings and conclusions.' " Sukin, 842 P.2d at 924 (quoting Painter v. Painter, 752 P.2d 907, 909 (Utah App.1988)).

B. Inadequate Findings

Our threshold consideration on review is whether the trial court's findings are adequate to support its custody award. Roberts v. Roberts, 835 P.2d 193, 195 (Utah App.1992). If the findings are legally inadequate the exercise of marshalling the evidence in support of the findings becomes futile and the appellant is under no obligation to marshal. Woodward v. Fazzio, 823 P.2d 474, 477 (Utah App.1991).

The trial court is required to make adequate findings regarding the best interests of the child and past conduct and demonstrated moral character of each of the parents. Sukin v. Sukin, 842 P.2d 922, 924 (Utah App.1992) (citing Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-10(1) (1989)). It is also required to consider which parent is most likely to act in the child's best interest and to make findings regarding that consideration. Id. (citing Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-10(2) (1989)). Where applicable, the court may also consider and make findings on other relevant factors. ¹

The trial court must not merely conclude one parent is the better custodian. The court must articulate the basic facts it found and the logical steps it used to reach the ultimate custody conclusion. Id. "The findings must be sufficiently detailed 'to ensure that the trial court's discretionary determination was rationally based.' " Id. (quoting Martinez v. Martinez, 728 P.2d 994, 994 (Utah 1986)). This allows us, in reviewing a custody determination, to make sure the determination flows logically from both the evidence and the controlling legal principles. Id. "Specificity of findings is particularly important in custody determinations. This is so because the issues involved are highly fact sensitive." Roberts, 835 P.2d at 195. When custody is contested and the evidence presents several possible interpretations, a bare conclusion and recitation of the factors and statutory considerations will not suffice. Id. at 196.

We have previously set out the analysis for determining whether findings are adequate.

[T]rial courts [must] provide adequate and detailed findings of fact in making custody determinations. "To ensure that the trial court's determination, discretionary as it is, is rationally based, it is essential that the court set forth in its findings of fact not only that it finds one parent to be the better person to care for the child, but also the basic facts which show why that ultimate conclusion is justified.

There must be 'a logical and legal basis for the ultimate conclusions.' "

Sukin, 842 P.2d at 924 (quoting Smith v. Smith, 726 P.2d 423, 426 (Utah 1986) (quoting Milne Truck Lines v. Public Service Comm'n, 720 P.2d 1373, 1378 (Utah 1986))). We stressed

"[t]he importance of complete, accurate and consistent findings of fact in a case tried by a judge is essential to the resolution of dispute under the proper rule of law. To that end the findings should be sufficiently detailed and include enough subsidiary facts to disclose the steps by which the ultimate conclusion on each factual issue was reached."

[quoting Rucker v. Dalton, 598 P.2d 1336, 1338 (Utah 1979).]

"Proper findings of fact ensure that the ultimate custody award follows logically from, and is supported by, evidence and the controlling legal principles. Adequate findings are also necessary for this court to perform its assigned review function."

Id. (quoting Smith, 726 P.2d at 426 (citations omitted)).

The failure of trial courts to make adequate findings has been a recurring problem in custody appeals. ² For example, in Roberts, we held the trial court's findings of fact inadequate to provide us a basis on which to assess the correctness of the court's custody decision. Roberts, 835 P.2d at 197. The findings of fact in Roberts included:

a. That both parties are capable of providing care of the minor children.

b. That both parties have participated in acts that bear on their moral character, to-wit: [Wife] with the ZCMI incident [engaged in a sexual act with another man in parking terrace] and [Husband] with incident at the bar [asking women for their phone numbers and asking for money back on drinks if he didn't get the number]. Further, the court finds that the incident at the bar did in fact take place and that [Husband] was less than candid in his testimony given to the court regarding the same.

c. That [Husband] has physically abused [Wife] during the marriage. [He punched her and broke her nose]

d. That although [Husband] has had custody of the minor children since 1990; since that period of time is not substantial the court has not given it a great deal of weight.

e. That both parties have a desire for custody and a bonding with the children.

f. That [Wife] was the primary caretaker of the minor children during the marriage and prior to the separation in January, 1990.

g. That [Wife] is far more amenable to giving liberal visitation to [Husband] than [Husband] would be to [Wife].

h. That [Wife] has better parental skills than [Husband] based upon her being the primary caretaker.

i. That it is in the best interests of the children that [Wife] be awarded the sole care, custody and control of the two (2) minor children of the parties.

Id. at 196-97. We found that the finding on the parties' moral character gave no guidance on how those acts related to the parties' parenting abilities and the best interests of the children. Id. at 197. Thus, we remanded for more detailed findings and did not reach the issue of whether the evidence was insufficient to support the findings or whether the court abused its discretion in the custody award. Id.

The findings in this case are inadequate because they do "not demonstrate a rational factual basis for the ultimate decision by reference to pertinent factors that relate to the best interests of the child, including specific attributes of the parents." Smith, 726 P.2d at 426.

In this case the trial court made the following written findings of fact regarding the custody of the three minor children.

7. The evaluator considered the best interests of the children and determined the plaintiff had the emotional stability and character to be awarded custody.

8. The court considered, among other things, the relative strength of parental...