Barney v. Barney, 84-103
Decision Date | 09 September 1985 |
Docket Number | No. 84-103,84-103 |
Citation | 705 P.2d 342 |
Parties | Bessie Anna BARNEY, Appellant (Defendant), v. Maurice R. BARNEY, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Carol H. Gonnella, Jackson, for appellant.
Larry L. Jorgenson, Wheatland, for appellee.
Before THOMAS, C.J., and ROSE, ROONEY, BROWN and CARDINE, JJ.
This is an appeal from the portion of a divorce decree awarding property. We affirm.
Appellant presents the following issues for review:
Appellee Maurice Barney commenced this action for divorce on October 14, 1982. Appellant, Bessie Anna Barney, answered and counterclaimed seeking the divorce. A decree of divorce was awarded to appellant.
The parties were married more than forty-three years and have three children who are emancipated. The major assets acquired by the parties during the marriage are an 85.29 acre ranch near Wilson, Wyoming, three lots, and one house located in Jackson, Wyoming. The ranch was acquired In the divorce decree appellant was given 55.91 acres of the ranch property which included the ranch home and other buildings. She was also given an equal portion of the inheritance received by appellant from his stepmother's estate as well as various ranching and farming equipment, livestock and hay and three trucks. Appellee received 29.31 acres of the ranch property as well as an easement allowing access to this land, the three lots in Jackson with the house, the other half of his inheritance and various equipment. Certain other property was divided by stipulation and is not at issue. The court also determined that the social security benefits of the parties which are received on a monthly basis were not marital assets and, therefore, each party was entitled to its own social security check. Appellant receives $171 per month in social security benefits; appellee receives $280 per month.
in 1957; in 1959 it was paid for with the proceeds of land which appellant sold to the National Park Service. This land was given to appellant as a gift from her mother. Both Bessie and Maurice lived and worked on the ranch contributing to the ranch operation. Appellee sometimes had other jobs. Some years he worked only on the ranch. At the time of the separation, appellee moved into the town of Jackson, living in the house owned by the parties which had previously been rented. Appellee's stepmother died in February 1983 leaving one-half of her estate of approximately forty thousand dollars to appellee. The total assets of the parties equalled approximately one million dollars. Title to both the town house and the ranch were originally taken in both names at the time of acquisition. There have been no transfers of interest.
Appellee states that appellant received from the divorce property valued at $482,704, and he received property valued at $452,123. These amounts do not include social security or the value of various personal property. Appellant disputes approximately $16,000 of this amount. Even so, appellant concedes that she received approximately $14,000 more than appellee.
A trial court is vested with a very large discretion in dividing marital property in a divorce. Paul v. Paul, Wyo., 616 P.2d 707 (1980). We have previously stated that:
" " Grosskopf v. Grosskopf, Wyo., 677 P.2d 814, 820 (1984) (quoting from Paul v. Paul, supra). See also, Kane v. Kane, Wyo., 577 P.2d 172 (1978).
Our function is not to reconsider or retry the district court's decision unless the exercise of discretion results in a clearly unjust and inequitable determination. Kane v. Kane, supra. The result reached by the trial court will not be disturbed except on clear grounds in extreme cases. Reilly v. Reilly, Wyo., 671 P.2d 330 (1983). We refuse to readjudicate property divisions when they are just and equitable. Cross v. Cross, Wyo., 586 P.2d 547 (1978).
The first three issues raised by appellant focus upon the property division and can be discussed together. The forth issue need not be resolved at this time because we do not find error in the trial court's decision. The statutory requirements to be considered in dividing marital property are contained in § 20-2-114, W.S.1977, Cum.Supp.1984, and state:
Appellant claims that the evidence regarding the purchase of the property was undisputed and that the court's failure to find that she had purchased the ranch property with her sole and separate funds was prejudicial. Appellee contends that when title to real property is taken in the names of both spouses, even though the consideration was furnished by only one, there is a rebuttable presumption that a gift is intended of one-half interest. Tyler v. Tyler, Wyo., 624 P.2d 784 (1981). Property may be awarded to one spouse even though it was the separate property of the other. Craver v. Craver, Wyo., 601 P.2d 999 (1979). A just and equitable division of property in a divorce case may consider a spouse's separate property. Karns v. Karns, Wyo., 511 P.2d 955 (1973).
In Winterholler v. Winterholler, Wyo., 486 P.2d 232 (1971), the...
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