Fugere v. Fugere, 20140334.

• Decision Date: 01 July 2015
• Docket Number: No. 20140334.,20140334.
• Parties: Kevin D. FUGERE, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Marie E. FUGERE, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

865 N.W.2d 407

Kevin D. FUGERE, Plaintiff and Appellee

v.Marie E. FUGERE, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20140334.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

July 1, 2015.

Gary D. Ramsey, Dickinson, N.D., for plaintiff and appellee; on brief.

Scott T. Solem and Allyson M. Hicks, Beulah, N.D., for defendant and appellant; on brief.

Opinion

SANDSTROM, Justice.

[¶ 1] Marie E. Fugere appeals from a judgment granting Kevin D. Fugere a divorce from her, dividing their marital estate, and awarding her rehabilitative spousal support. Because the district court's property distribution from this short marriage is not clearly erroneous, we affirm.

I

[¶ 2] Kevin Fugere, who had been married twice before, and Marie Fugere, who had been married three times before, began dating in the summer of 2007. In January 2009, they were engaged to be married. Kevin Fugere had a large farm and ranch operation headquartered south of Belfield, and Marie Fugere served as postmaster in Belfield, making $60,000 per year. Marie Fugere filed for bankruptcy in early 2009. As their May wedding date approached, Kevin Fugere presented Marie Fugere with several proposed prenuptial agreements. On May 6, 2009, after one of the prenuptial agreements was presented to her, Marie Fugere attempted suicide. The wedding was postponed, and no prenuptial agreement was signed.

[¶ 3] The parties were married in August 2009 when Kevin Fugere was 51 years old and Marie Fugere was 46 years old, and they lived on the ranch. According to Kevin Fugere, his net worth at the time of the marriage exceeded $3 million, consisting mainly of the ranch which he had operated since 1981. Marie Fugere, having recently completed bankruptcy, brought to the marriage her Post Office Thrift Savings Account worth approximately $100,000 and some personal property. Marie Fugere eventually quit her job as postmaster, assisted with the ranch work, and did most of the household chores. She had emotional problems and drank excessively during the marriage. She attempted suicide on two more occasions and spent time at a treatment facility in Grand Forks. Following a quarrel with Kevin Fugere after Christmas 2012, Marie Fugere left the ranch in early January 2013.

[¶ 4] Kevin Fugere sued for divorce in January 2013. No children were born of the marriage, so the trial focused on marital property division and spousal support. Following the trial, the district court found the net value of the marital estate was nearly $5,850,000. Mainly on the basis of the short duration of the marriage, the court awarded Kevin Fugere property having a net value of $5,688,215. The court awarded Marie Fugere property having a net value of $161,662, and a cash award of $105,000 to compensate her for “taking care of the house as well [as] her helping to the extent that she could in the farm/ranch operation.” The court reduced the cash award by $24,000, which had been paid to her by Kevin Fugere through earlier interim orders. The court also ordered Kevin Fugere to pay Marie Fugere $1,550 per month for five years for rehabilitative spousal support.

[¶ 5] The district court had jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, § 8, and N.D.C.C. § 27–05–06. Marie Fugere's appeal is timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(a). This Court has jurisdiction under N.D. Const. art. VI, §§ 2 and 6, and N.D.C.C. § 28–27–01.

II

[¶ 6] Marie Fugere argues the district court erred in distributing the marital estate.

[¶ 7] The standard for reviewing the distribution of marital property is well-established:

A district court's distribution of marital property is treated as a finding of fact, which we review under the clearly erroneous standard of review. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is induced by an erroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence to support it, or if, after reviewing all the evidence, we are left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made. This Court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the findings, and the district court's findings of fact are presumptively correct.

Feist v. Feist, 2015 ND 98, ¶ 4, 862 N.W.2d 817 (quoting McCarthy v. McCarthy, 2014 ND 234, ¶ 8, 856 N.W.2d 762).

[¶ 8] Under N.D.C.C. § 14–05–24(1), a district court is required to make an equitable distribution of all the divorcing parties' marital property and debts. “All property held by either party, whether held jointly or individually, is considered marital property, and the court must determine the total value of the marital property before making an equitable distribution.” Hoverson v. Hoverson, 2013 ND 48, ¶ 9, 828 N.W.2d 510. “Separate property, even if it is inherited, must initially be included in the marital estate, but the property's origin may be considered when equitably dividing the estate.” Feist, 2015 ND 98, ¶ 6, 862 N.W.2d 817. After the property is valued, the court must equitably divide the marital estate under the Ruff–Fischer guidelines, which require consideration of the following factors:

The respective ages of the parties, their earning ability, the duration of the marriage and conduct of the parties during the marriage, their station in life, the circumstances and necessities of each, their health and physical condition, their financial circumstances as shown by the property owned at the time, its value at the time, its income-producing capacity, if any, whether accumulated before or after the marriage, and such other matters as may be material.

Id. (quoting McCarthy, 2014 ND 234, ¶ 9, 856 N.W.2d 762). “Our law does not require a set formula or method for dividing marital property; rather, the division is based on the particular circumstances of each case.” Hoverson, at ¶ 10. “A property division need not be equal to be equitable, but a substantial disparity must be explained.” McCarthy, at ¶ 10. “We have often said that while a long-term marriage generally supports an equal division of property, a court may unequally divide property in a short-term marriage and award the parties what each brought into the marriage.” Dieterle v. Dieterle, 2013 ND 71, ¶ 25, 830 N.W.2d 571.

[¶ 9] Marie Fugere argues the property distribution is clearly erroneous because she gave up a $60,000 per year job as postmaster to work on Kevin Fugere's ranch and her hard work contributed to the increase in the parties' net worth during the duration of the marriage. Consequently, Marie Fugere contends she is entitled to one-half of the marital estate, or at the very least, one-half of what she alleged to be a 300 percent increase in the parties' net worth during the marriage. The problem with this argument is the district court found Marie Fugere simply quit her postmaster position without any urging by Kevin Fugere because she disliked the job, her work on the ranch was minimal, and nothing she did contributed to the increase in net worth during the duration of the marriage. “ ‘The district court is in a better position than this Court to judge the credibility and observe the demeanor of witnesses.’ ” Kosobud v. Kosobud, 2012 ND 122, ¶ 9, 817 N.W.2d 384 (quoting Eberle v. Eberle, 2010 ND 107, ¶ 17, 783 N.W.2d 254). Kevin Fugere testified Marie Fugere disliked her postmaster job because she could not take any time off, she found the job stressful, and he did not tell her to quit but agreed to her doing so “[b]ecause she was so unhappy there.” Kevin Fugere testified Marie Fugere knew little about ranching when he met her, he did not need her to work on the ranch, “she followed me around and did just little things that she could do,” and she “couldn't go off and do something on her own. She was more like a shadow. She was not a hired hand.” Kevin Fugere testified Marie Fugere did very little ranch work without his direct supervision. Although it is undisputed that Marie Fugere took over the household chores, the court included compensation for this in the property distribution. The court's findings are not clearly erroneous.

[¶ 10] The district court thoroughly analyzed the facts of this case under the Ruff–Fischer guidelines. The court noted the ages of the parties and addressed their earning abilities and their circumstances and necessities. The court considered that “Kevin is continuing to work just as he had worked before with the assets that he brought into his marriage to Marie.” The court considered that Marie Fugere gave up a well-paying job that included retirement and benefits and that she was currently working for Genex Cooperative, Inc., earning approximately $40,000 per year. The court found “Marie is a hard worker and the Court trusts that she will be able to make a fairly good living out of the work that she has been able to employ, together with the assets in her property division.” In addressing the parties' station in life, the court noted that at the time of the marriage Marie Fugere had gone through bankruptcy and Kevin Fugere had accumulated a “substantial amount of wealth through his own personal hard efforts.” The court found Marie Fugere had “somewhat recovered” by acquiring her new job and found “this factor probably favors Marie somewhat.”

[¶ 11] The district court addressed the conduct of the parties to the marriage and found “this factor favors Kevin to the limited extent that it applie[s].” The court noted that although “Marie attempts to blame her erratic and destructive behavior on Kevin,” she “had these emotional and destructive issues prior to getting married to Kevin” and her conduct “is what bought this marriage to the point of failure.” The court further determined “[t]here is not economic wasting that the Court can find from the conduct of either party in this particular case.” In addressing the health and physical condition of the parties, the court found “Marie has struggled for many years with psychological problems and will continue to struggle with these emotional problems,” but “these problems are not attributable to Kevin.” The court found that this factor favored Marie Fugere.

[¶ 12] It is evident from the...