Boyle v. Boyle

• Decision Date: 29 September 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-258.,05-258.
• Citation: 143 P.3d 368,2006 WY 124
• Parties: Bruce G. BOYLE, Appellant (Defendant), v. Renee R. BOYLE, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

143 P.3d 368

2006 WY 124

Bruce G. BOYLE, Appellant (Defendant), v. Renee R. BOYLE, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 05-258.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

September 29, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Representing Appellant: Mary A. Throne and Brandi L. Monger of Hickey & Evans, LLP, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Monger.

Representing Appellee: Kathryn J. Edelman of Edelman Law Office, Gillette, Wyoming.

Before VOIGT, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL^*, KITE, and BURKE, JJ.

KITE, Justice.

[¶ 1] Bruce Boyle (Husband) appeals from the property disposition in the decree granting Renee Boyle's (Wife) complaint for divorce. Husband asserts the district court erred by classifying his employment benefits, including banked hours, vacation hours, and sick leave, as marital property. He also claims the district court abused its discretion in dividing the parties' property. We conclude the issue of whether Husband's employment benefits were marital property was not properly presented to the district court and, therefore, decline to consider his argument on appeal. Further, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court's division of property.

[¶ 2] Affirmed.

ISSUES

[¶ 3] Husband states the following issues on appeal:

Was it proper for the district court to consider banked hours, vacation hours and sick hours as marital property?

Did the district court abuse its discretion in the property division set forth in the judgment and decree of divorce?

Wife does not set forth a separate statement of issues on appeal.

FACTS

[¶ 4] Husband and Wife were married on September 9, 1994, in Rapid City, South Dakota. Husband was a pilot employed by Northwest Airlines. Wife also worked for Northwest Airlines, first as a gate agent and later as a flight attendant. Husband earned significantly more than Wife during the marriage.

[¶ 5] The parties each owned a home prior to their marriage, but they sold their individual properties and placed the proceeds in their joint accounts. They used their joint funds to purchase property and build a new home in Aladdin. The parties also mortgaged the Aladdin property and borrowed against their 401(k) retirement accounts and from family members to fund the building project.

[¶ 6] After several years of marriage, the parties' relationship deteriorated, culminating in Wife's claim Husband was engaged in an extramarital relationship with another woman. Wife moved out of the parties' Aladdin residence in July 2004. Approximately three weeks later she moved back into the house, but the parties' relationship did not improve. Over the course of the next several months, there were arguments which apparently escalated to physical violence on a couple of occasions.

[¶ 7] On December 9, 2004, Wife filed a complaint for divorce and a motion for exclusive possession of the marital residence. Husband answered the complaint, and the parties agreed to a temporary arrangement wherein Husband would have possession of the marital residence and would pay Wife $2,500 per month in spousal support while the divorce proceedings were pending. The court also ordered Husband to pay other expenses, including the mortgage payments and vehicle expenses.

[¶ 8] The district court held a trial on May 25, 2005. Both parties testified at the trial, and the district court ordered them to prepare written submissions for the court's consideration in issuing its final decree. After the parties filed their written submissions, the district court issued a decision letter outlining its basic property distribution and indicating it generally adopted Wife's proposed distribution of the property. The court subsequently entered a judgment and divorce decree, and Husband appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 9] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-114 (LexisNexis 2005) sets out the statutory requirements for disposition of a couple's property in a divorce. That statute provides, in relevant part:

In granting a divorce, the court shall make such disposition of the property of the parties as appears just and equitable, having regard for the respective merits of the parties and the condition in which they will be left by the divorce, the party through whom the property was acquired and the burdens imposed upon the property for the benefit of either party and children. The court may decree to either party reasonable alimony out of the estate of the other having regard for the other's ability to pay and may order so much of the other's real estate or the rents and profits thereof as is necessary be assigned and set out to either party for life, or may decree a specific sum be paid by either party.

See also, Wallop v. Wallop, 2004 WY 46, ¶ 26, 88 P.3d 1022, 1030 (Wyo.2004); Hall v. Hall, 2002 WY 30, ¶¶ 11-12, 40 P.3d 1228, 1229-30 (Wyo.2002). The trial court has the discretion to determine what weight should be given each of the individual statutory factors. DeJohn v. DeJohn, 2005 WY 140, ¶ 13, 121 P.3d 802, 808 (Wyo.2005). See also, Wallop, ¶ 26, 88 P.3d at 1030.

[¶ 10] We expansively discussed the "just and equitable" requirement and our standard for reviewing property disposition decisions in Sweat v. Sweat, 2003 WY 82, ¶ 6, 72 P.3d 276, 278 (Wyo.2003):

A just and equitable distribution is as likely as not to be unequal. [Carlton v. Carlton, 997 P.2d 1028, 1032 (Wyo.2000)]. We evaluate whether the trial court's property division is, in fact, equitable from the perspective of the overall distribution of marital assets and liabilities rather than from a narrow focus on the effects of any particular disposition. Id. From that perspective, we afford the trial court considerable discretion to form a distributive scheme appropriate to the peculiar circumstances of each individual case, and we will not disturb such a scheme absent a showing that the trial court clearly abused its discretion. Id. The division of property in a divorce case should not be disturbed except on clear grounds as the trial court is usually in a better position than the appellate court to judge the parties' respective merits and needs. Metz v. Metz, 2003 WY 3, ¶ 6, 61 P.3d 383, ¶ 6 (Wyo.2003). The trial court is also in the best position to assess the witnesses' credibility and weigh their testimony. Raymond v. Raymond, 956 P.2d 329, 332 (Wyo.1998). We, therefore, give considerable deference to its findings. Id. The ultimate question in determining whether an abuse of discretion occurred is whether the trial court could reasonably conclude as it did. Metz, 2003 WY 3, ¶ 6, 61 P.3d 383. In answering that question, we consider only the evidence of the successful party, ignore the evidence of the unsuccessful party, and grant the successful party every favorable inference that can be drawn from the record. Holland v. Holland, 2001 WY 113, ¶ 8, 35 P.3d 409, ¶ 8 (Wyo.2001).

See also, Houx v. Houx, 2006 WY 102, 140 P.3d 648 (Wyo.2006). As with any appeal, the district court's conclusions of law are reviewed de novo. Maher v. Maher, 2004 WY 62, ¶ 6, 90 P.3d 739, 741 (Wyo.2004).

DISCUSSION

A. Employment Benefits

[¶ 11] Husband claims the district court erred by including certain employment benefits he had accumulated as a pilot for Northwest Airlines in its distribution of the parties' marital property. In particular, he claims his banked hours,¹ vacation hours, and accumulated sick leave were not marital property subject to distribution. The district court awarded the employment benefits to Husband and included their value in his part of the marital estate. The gist of Husband's argument is that, if he would not have been credited with those values, he would have received a larger portion of the marital estate.

[¶ 12] The parties reached an agreement as to the disposition of most of their property. Thus, at trial they focused on approximately thirty items still in dispute, either because the parties could not agree on who should get the property and/or what value should be assigned to the property. Those items were identified in a joint exhibit admitted into evidence at trial. The joint exhibit was a spreadsheet with columns entitled: Property Description, Property Values (including separate spaces for Wife's values and Husband's values), Party Requesting Property (including spaces marked with an "x" to indicate if Wife wanted the property and/or if Husband wanted the property), Court Assignment (with separate spaces marked "To P($)" and "To D($))," and a column entitled "Notes." Husband's employment benefits were shown as items numbered 455, 456 and 457 on the joint exhibit. Item 455 was described as NWA banked hours pay. The joint exhibit indicated Wife placed a value of $1,327 on the banked hours. Husband's value column contained a question mark. Neither party marked the columns indicating they were requesting the item. Item 456 was Husband's sick leave which Wife valued at $264,060. The "Notes" column indicates Wife's value was calculated by multiplying 1467 accumulated hours by an hourly rate of $180. Husband's value column contained a question mark, and neither party marked the column indicating he or she was requesting the item. Item 475 was Husband's vacation pay. Wife assigned a value of $18,817 to Husband's vacation pay, and the "Notes" column indicates she calculated the value by multiplying 104.54 hours at $180 per hour. As with the other two items, Husband's value column simply contained a question mark and neither party requested the item.

[¶ 13] At the trial, there was no testimony concerning these three assets except Wife's answers on cross-examination:

Q. [Wife], you didn't testify about your entries on lines 455, 456 and 457. . . .

* * *

A. Those are all [Husband's] and I don't dispute that.

Q. So you're not making any claim to those?

A. No, ma'am, no.

[¶ 14] At the conclusion of the trial, the district court asked the parties to submit proposed decrees. Husband's proposed decree did not address the employment benefits at all. Wife submitted a written closing argument...