Bodine v. Bodine

• Decision Date: 03 October 1983
• Docket Number: No. 14625,14625
• Citation: 670 P.2d 884,105 Idaho 477
• Parties: Dorothy BODINE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Loren BODINE, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 884

670 P.2d 884

105 Idaho 477

Dorothy BODINE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Loren BODINE, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 14625.

Supreme Court of Idaho.

Oct. 3, 1983.

E. Don Copple of Davison, Copple, Copple & Copple, Boise, for plaintiff-appellant.

Stanley W. Welsh of Clemons, Cosho & Humphrey, Boise, for defendant-respondent.

DONALDSON, Chief Justice.

The parties were separated in 1975 and at the time of the divorce in March of 1976, they entered into a property settlement agreement. Following the divorce, the wife, Dorothy Bodine, brought this suit as an independent action. She contends that in the course of their negotiations her husband, Loren Bodine, misrepresented the value of their property.

The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the husband. In the district court's written opinion and order granting the summary judgment, the court stated that while there was no genuine issue as to the identity and disclosure of the property owned by the parties at the time of the negotiations, an issue did exist as to whether the property values given by the husband were fair and accurate. While discussing the possibility of fraud the trial judge found that "a claim by the wife under circumstances existing in the instant case that the property values provided by the husband were not accurate does not justify setting aside the property-settlement agreement.... I conclude, therefore, that on the present record there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the Defendant is entitled to Summary Judgment." The plaintiff-wife appealed this decision.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial judge's decision and remanded the case in light of the recent Idaho Supreme Court case of Compton v. Compton, 101 Idaho 328, 612 P.2d 1175 (1980), which was released two months after the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the husband-defendant. The Court of Appeals held that the district court was too restrictive when it concluded that relief from a property settlement agreement must be denied by summary judgment when parties occupy adversary positions and are represented by legal counsel. The Court of Appeals then directed the trial court to consider other factors that were addressed in Compton in order to determine whether summary judgment should be granted.

The parties in this action have treated the property settlement agreement as though it were merged into the divorce decree. Therefore, in order for the wife to attack the judgment, since the time limitations have run for other avenues of review, she must show an extreme degree of fraud. Compton, supra. As stated in Compton, "[t]here is no expressed time limit ... with respect to the independent action to relieve a party from judgment." 101 Idaho at 334, 612 P.2d at 1181. This Court in Compton also stated, however, that an independent action "will lie only in the presence of an extreme degree of fraud," 101 Idaho at 335, 612 P.2d at 1182, and that "to survive husband's motion for summary judgment the burden rests with wife, as challenging party in this case, to allege such fraud as to support an independent action for relief from judgment." 101 Idaho at 336, 612 P.2d at 1183.

On a motion for summary judgment the trial court and an appellate court must construe all facts and inferences most favorably toward the party opposing the motion. If a genuine issue of material fact remains unsolved, summary judgment is improper. Taylor v. Choules, 102 Idaho 222, 628 P.2d 1056 (1981). Neither the district nor an appellate court can weigh the facts to determine the issues.

As stated, the trial judge found that "a claim ... that the property values provided by the husband were not accurate does not justify setting aside the property-settlement agreement." However, an examination of the evidence in a light most favorable towards the wife shows that she did more than claim that the value the husband attached to the property was inaccurate. Rather, she stated in an affidavit that she discovered the fair market value of the property at the time the agreement was entered into was $1,650,000.00 and that her husband, Mr. Bodine, had represented to her attorney that the community property was valued at $446,000.00 and that the representation of $446,000.00 "was totally false and made by the Defendant with the intent to deceive and defraud me." Also, at the time of the divorce she allegedly was under the care of a psychiatrist and, with her husband's knowledge, she was taking medication prescribed by her psychiatrist to sedate her. This evidence is all relevant to the fraud issue.

The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for the trial court to reconsider the motion for summary judgment in light of Compton. However, an examination of this evidence in a light most favorable to the wife indicates that as a matter of law a genuine issue of material fact does exist, thus precluding the granting of a summary judgment motion. Therefore, we reverse the trial court's decision and remand for a trial on the issue.

Costs to appellant Dorothy Bodine.

No attorney fees on appeal.

BISTLINE and HUNTLEY, JJ., concur.

SHEPARD, Justice, dissenting.

The district judge in the instant case on March 29, 1980 was somewhat omniscient in anticipating this Court's opinion in Compton v. Compton, 101 Idaho 328, 612 P.2d 1175 (1980). There, as here, a divorce decree was entered, and two and a half years later the former wife filed an action seeking to set aside the decree and property settlement agreement on the grounds they had been procured by misrepresentation and fraud on the part of the husband. Following discovery, the court granted the former husband's motion for summary judgment. The former wife appealed and this Court affirmed. In Compton, as in the instant case, the former wife stated that "during the marriage she had little or nothing to do with decisions regarding investment or management of the community and that in forming the property settlement agreement she relied entirely upon the representations of husband." Id., 101 Idaho at 332, 612 P.2d at 1179.

In Compton, prior to the formation of the property settlement agreement, there were numerous occasions when husband and wife discussed the property issues.

The Court in Compton held: "It is, of course, the general rule that once a judgment issues it is res judicata with respect to all issues which were or could have been litigated." Id., 101 Idaho at 328, 612 P.2d at 1180. The Court then went on to discuss various means of attacking a judgment which is otherwise res judicata and settled upon the issue of fraud as one of the means of obtaining modification of the judgment. The Court in Compton then stated:

"The term 'fraud upon the court' contemplates more than interparty misconduct, and, in Idaho, has been held to require more than perjury or misrepresentation by a party or witness, even where the misrepresentation was made to establish the court's jurisdiction. [Citation.] Apparently such fraud will be found only in the presence of such 'tampering with the administration of justice' as to suggest 'a wrong against the institutions set up to protect and safeguard the public.' [Citations.]" Compton, supra, 101 Idaho at 334, 612 P.2d at 1181.

The Court in Compton then went on to discuss the distinction, if any, between extrinsic and intrinsic fraud and the fiduciary duty existing between husband and wife, and stated:

"This fiduciary duty extends to the parties' negotiations leading to the formation of the property settlement agreement during marriage, and requires, at least, a disclosure by both parties of all information within their knowledge regarding the existence of community property and of pertinent facts necessary to arrive at a reasonable valuation of the property. Like a business partner, each spouse is free to adopt a position favorable to himself or herself regarding the property's valuation, its inclusion in the community, or other such issues. They are not free, however, to resolve such issues unilaterally by concealing the very existence of particular items or amounts of property." Id., 101 Idaho at 336, 612 P.2d at 1183.

In Compton, the argument was made that the husband had both concealed the existence of property and misrepresented the value of certain property. The Court held that the husband had disclosed the existence of property and that the wife was responsible for a determination of the value, stating:

"She was thus on notice and free to challenge husband's valuation by coming forward with her own experts, or otherwise attempting to convince the trier of fact that husband's valuation was incorrect. Her inadvertence or misjudgment in failing to do so when the opportunity was ripe is an excellent example of the type of conduct which the independent action to relieve a party from judgment will not lie to correct." Id., 101 Idaho at 337, 612 P.2d at 1184.

In contrast with Compton, the following proceedings and facts are revealed in the instant case. Husband and wife separated in May of 1975, and according to the deposition of the wife, no communications took place between the parties between May of 1975 and the time of the divorce decree in March of 1976, i.e.:

"Q. Did you talk to Mr. Bodine regularly after May of '75?

"A. No.

"Q. How often did you talk to him after May of '75 until March of '76?

"A. I don't think I did.

* * *

* * *

"Q. Did he say anything to you about the property after May of '75?

"A. No.

"Q. Did you go through your attorney then?

"A. Yes.

"Q. All communications that were communicated were from you to your attorney and through the attorney to your husband?

"A. Yes."

In May of 1975, plaintiff-wife filed a complaint for a divorce, praying for an equitable division of the property. On September 3, 1975, plaintiff's counsel took the deposition of the defendant-husband. In that deposition, counsel for the plaintiff thoroughly explored the income of the husband,...