Bizzell v. Bizzell
| Decision Date | 10 September 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 49003,49003 |
| Citation | 697 S.W.2d 559 |
| Parties | In re the Marriage of John BIZZELL, Jr., v. Ethel BIZZELL, Respondent. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Susan M. Hais, Clayton, for appellant.
Rollin J. Moerschel, St. Charles, for respondent.
Husband appeals from a decree in a dissolution action and challenges the distribution of marital property, the award of maintenance and the absence of an award of attorney's fees. We affirm.
The parties were married in August 1976 and separated in January 1983. Both had been married previously. Wife was in her fifties and husband in his late forties at the time of the marriage. No children were born of the marriage. At the time of the marriage husband held an administrative position with the Ferguson-Florissant School District making approximately $22,000 per year. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in education and has taken additional college credits. He brought to the marriage virtually no financial assets.
Wife was high school educated. She owned at the time of marriage all of the stock of a corporation which owned and operated a chain of five nursery schools in St. Charles County. She owned, and leased to the corporation, the land and buildings utilized for the nursery schools. She brought to the marriage in addition substantial real and personal property.
After the marriage additional property was acquired in joint names. (1) A condominium in Hawaii found to be marital property and awarded to the wife; (2) A condominium in St. Charles found to be marital property and was awarded to husband; (3) A condominium in Florida found to be marital property and awarded to husband; (4) Two duplexes in Florida found to be marital property and awarded to wife; (5) Land and a building leased to the corporation for a sixth school found to be marital property and awarded to wife. In addition certain tax shelter investments were acquired during the marriage. Two of these were found to be non-marital property of the wife and one was found to be marital and awarded to the husband. It is safe to say that the overwhelming amount of money utilized to acquire these properties was either from assets possessed by the wife prior to marriage or from her income from the nursery school operation during the marriage. The trial court could also have found from the evidence that wife provided from her earnings the day to day expenses of the marital unit as well as most of the funds for acquisition of furnishings, automobiles and other personal property acquired during the marriage.
The trial court found all the stock of the corporation and the five parcels of real estate leased to the corporation to be non-marital property of the wife. Because husband's main challenge to the property distribution is this factual determination some recitation of the status of this property after the marriage is warranted. The property involved was never placed in joint names. In 1980 the parties entered into a sale transaction by which the five parcels, plus the sixth parcel held in joint names, and the stock of the corporation was sold to Ferro-Wonderworld. The consideration was in excess of $1,300,000. Most of that consideration was reflected by a note payable to wife only. Husband was a party to the transaction because of his interest in the sixth parcel of real estate. Most of the money received in payment of that note was interest and these payments went into the joint account of the couple. Within 18 months the purchasers were in default. In order to avoid foreclosure the purchasers agreed to transfer the real property to wife's daughter. The stock was reconveyed to wife. The daughter was utilized as a straw party in order to keep open the possibility of foreclosure in the event that liens against the property surfaced subsequently. Except for state and federal tax liens against the corporation for unpaid employee taxes, no other liens appeared. At the conclusion of the lien period the real property was conveyed by the daughter. That conveyance was of the original five parcels to the wife, and the sixth parcel to husband and wife. That was exactly the state of title prior to the ill-fated sale. Wife then utilized certain pre-marital assets of hers plus earnings of the corporation to pay off the tax liens.
In 1979 husband elected to terminate his employment with the Ferguson-Florissant school district and received an incentive of $10,000 for early retirement. This incentive was available only because husband in applying for early retirement stated his reason for retirement to be his health condition of high blood pressure. During trial husband admitted that that condition was controlled by diet and was not the reason for his retirement. Husband contended that wife urged his retirement so they could be together and travel and so he could help her with the schools. Wife denied this and testified she was surprised at the resignation, did not need husband's help with the schools, and that husband's resignation was the product of a general discontent and restlessness. Husband was employed by the corporation for a salary but wife testified that she had to find things for him to do and that he was generally ineffective and overqualified for what work he did perform. Wife at various times during the marriage supplied husband with money for training and for expenses in setting up businesses but these enterprises were either unsuccessful or abandoned by husband. Husband withdrew his accrued retirement from the state and invested it in a business with his son in Texas. That business failed. At the time husband first testified at trial he had made two calls to school districts to inquire about employment and been told they had no vacancies. He submitted no applications for employment. During his rebuttal testimony several months later he testified he had in the interim submitted applications to fourteen school districts. He did not testify as to the results of those applications. All were submitted after commencement of the school year. The trial court awarded husband maintenance of $1,000 per...
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Coleberd v. Coleberd, s. 20196
...property received during coverture is marital property but the non-marital principal retains its original status." Bizzell v. Bizzell, 697 S.W.2d 559, 563 (Mo.App.1985). Nevertheless, "[a] spouse may by agreement, either express or implied, or by gift, convert an item of separate property i......
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Bold v. Bold, 77995
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Meservey v. Meservey, s. WD
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Marriage of Perkel, In re, 21362
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§ 10.02 The Separate Property Business
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