Grasso v. Lopez
| Decision Date | 05 May 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 0583,0583 |
| Parties | JOSEPH LO GRASSO v. MARITZA LOPEZ f/k/a MARITZA LO GRASSO |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
UNREPORTED
Wright, Graeff, Eyler, James R. (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.
Opinion by Graeff, J.
*This is an unreported opinion, and it may not be cited in any paper, brief, motion, or other document filed in this Court or any other Maryland Court as either precedent within the rule of stare decisis or as persuasive authority. Md. Rule 1-104.
On June 30, 1990, Joseph Lo Grasso, appellant, and Maritza Lo Grasso, appellee, were married.1 On February 24, 2015, the Circuit Court for Charles County granted Mr. Lo Grasso a Judgment of Absolute Divorce.
On appeal, Mr. Lo Grasso presents several questions for our review, which we have consolidated and rephrased, as follows:
For the reasons set forth below, we shall vacate the judgment of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings.
On June 30, 1990, Mr. and Mrs. Lo Grasso were married in Ohio. At that time, both Mr. and Mrs. Lo Grasso were Captains in the United States Air Force. Mrs. Lo Grasso was stationed in Colorado at some point during their marriage.2 Shortly thereafter,Mr. Lo Grasso was "processed out" of the Air Force because of his inability to conform to physical fitness requirements and his commander's refusal to issue him a waiver. In October 1991, Mr. Lo Grasso moved to Colorado to live with his wife and her son, whom he adopted later that year.
Mr. Lo Grasso believed that Mrs. Lo Grasso's assignment in Colorado would last for only one year, and he did not look for employment because he did not want to start a career only to have to move again. After discovering that Mrs. Lo Grasso's assignment in Colorado would last longer than one year, which also coincided with their son starting school, Mr. Lo Grasso began to consider seeking employment.
Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that, although she intended to stay in Colorado for several years, Mr. Lo Grasso disliked living there, and he expressed his desire to move back to the Washington D.C., area. She stated that he was "very unhappy" in Colorado and thought that D.C. "would be a great opportunity for him to get a job." Mr. Lo Grasso recalled wanting to move to the D.C. area because he had been stationed there in the past, he liked the area, there were "numerous opportunities" for Mrs. Lo Grasso's Air Force career, and he thought that it "would make for a total family package."
Mr. Lo Grasso traveled to Maryland to find a new home, and he selected a house in Waldorf for the family. Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that he chose the house because its location provided him access to the major cities in the area where he could potentially find a job.
In 1993, the Lo Grassos moved to Waldorf. The Lo Grassos subsequently moved as Mrs. Lo Grasso's job demanded, renting out their home each time and then returning to Waldorf after Mrs. Lo Grasso's assignment was completed. In September 1994, the Lo Grasso's second child was born.
After his separation from the military, Mr. Lo Grasso took several "short-lived" part-time jobs to make some extra money for his family and "to relieve the boredom," but he felt that it was important to have at least one parent at home with their children. Mr. Lo Grasso testified that the issue "was discussed," and "it was decided" that, because he had the lesser opportunities in the Air Force, he would be the one to stay home. Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that she never had a discussion with Mr. Lo Grasso about the issue.
As the stay-at-home parent, Mr. Lo Grasso cooked, cleaned, maintained the house and yard, took their children to appointments and school activities, cared for them when they were sick, and made lunches for them, while Mrs. Lo Grasso, as the primary breadwinner, worked long hours in the Air Force. He would take care of the children when Mrs. Lo Grasso traveled for work.
Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that it would not have impacted her ability to raise her children if Mr. Lo Grasso had a job. She had been a single mother before she married Mr. Lo Grasso, and she "was still a very effective parent, and very effective in [her] career." Moreover, when their son was in high school, he would have been able to look after their daughter, who was seven years younger, when she came home from school.
In 1998, Mrs. Lo Grasso was reassigned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Mr. Lo Grasso decided not to move to Delaware with her, and instead, he moved back into their Waldorf home with their two children. Mr. Lo Grasso testified that this arrangement was made, at least in part, because of the problems they had renting their Waldorf home. Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that Mr. Lo Grasso told her that he would not move to Delaware "fairly late in the game," and therefore, she did not "have a choice but to say, okay." The two-household arrangement ended up costing the family more than if they had moved together. While Mrs. Lo Grasso was in Delaware, Mr. Lo Grasso and their children periodically traveled to visit her, and vice versa.
In 2005, Mrs. Lo Grasso retired from the Air Force at the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the time of the trial, she received approximately $4,663 per month in retirement pay from the Military. After retiring from the Air Force, Mrs. Lo Grasso worked for a private company for several months before returning to the Air Force to work as a civilian employee. At the time of the trial, Mrs. Lo Grasso was employed by the Air Force at the GS-15 Step 9 pay grade, earning a base salary of $157,100 annually before taxes.
Both parties agreed that they experienced marital problems early on in their marriage. Mr. Lo Grasso stated that their issues began as early as their wedding reception. Their problems initially were "peripheral" and mostly involved "family strains," particularly with Mrs. Lo Grasso's family. In 1993, around the time that Mrs. Lo Grasso became pregnant with their second child, they ceased having marital relations. Mr. Lo Grasso stated that their sexual inactivity "was kind of [a] shared feeling," butMrs. Lo Grasso stated that all Mr. Lo Grasso wanted was a child, and "as soon as [Mrs. Lo Grasso] got pregnant, he didn't have to make any other pretenses." After Mrs. Lo Grasso returned from Delaware, they had a discussion about the sleeping arrangements, and from that point forward, they slept in separate rooms.
There was tension regarding Mrs. Lo Grasso's employment in the Air Force. Mr. Lo Grasso was bitter about the circumstances of his separation from the military, and he did not want Mrs. Lo Grasso to continue to work for the Air Force. He testified that he made clear before they got married that he would not attend any military social functions. Consequently, he did not attend Mrs. Lo Grasso's promotion and retirement ceremonies.
Mr. Lo Grasso testified that the "subject of divorce came up on a number of occasions, usually along with the suggestion of counseling," but his suggestions of counseling were "not well received." Mrs. Lo Grasso testified that Mr. Lo Grasso "always threatened [her] with divorce." She considered filing for divorce herself, but she decided to stay "with the status quo" because she was afraid of what would happen to their children.
In August 2012, Mr. Lo Grasso moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to be closer to their daughter at college. He originally proposed that he and their daughter move down to North Carolina during the school year and then return to Waldorf "during the summer months." He explained, however, that "things had been kind of strained, and it ended up evolving into, well, I'll just go down there permanently because she wasn't satisfied with that." At the time of the trial, the parties' daughter lived with Mr. Lo Grasso in North Carolina, and their son lived with Mrs. Lo Grasso in Waldorf.
Mr. Lo Grasso described the quality of his North Carolina home as a "6.5 to a 7" on a ten-point scale, not "anywhere near" the quality of his former home in Waldorf. He noted various problems with the house, including rotting wood on the exterior, worn carpeting, and old cabinetry and appliances. He stated that the house was located in a neighborhood with a high crime rate.
Mr. Lo Grasso also testified that, after moving to North Carolina, he had to resort to credit cards to make ends meet. A financial statement, dated March 27, 2014, indicated that Mr. Lo Grasso had accumulated $30,470 in credit card debt,3 and he was experiencing a monthly deficit of $2,831.65.
On March 31, 2014, Mr. Lo Grasso filed for absolute divorce. On August 26, 2014, the circuit court approved a Consent Pendente Lite Order. In that order, the parties agreed that Mrs. Lo Grasso would continue to pay to Mr. Lo Grasso $1,600 per month as his marital share of her military retirement. In addition, the order provided that Mrs. Lo Grasso would pay to Mr. Lo Grasso 50% of the balances of their marital bank accounts. The order also included the following provisions:
On February 11, 2015, the circuit court approved a Consent Order Partially Resolving Property Issues. The agreement provided that Mrs. Lo Grasso would transfer to Mr. Lo Grasso (1) $140,000...
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