In re Kerr

• Decision Date: 14 April 2021
• Docket Number: A172901
• Citation: 310 Or.App. 695,485 P.3d 315 (Mem)
• Parties: In the MATTER OF the MARRIAGE OF Robert Alan KERR, Petitioner-Appellant, and Deborah Beth Kerr, Respondent-Respondent, and Jenna Michelle Kerr, A Statutory Party.
• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals

310 Or.App. 695

485 P.3d 315 (Mem)

In the MATTER OF the MARRIAGE OF Robert Alan KERR, Petitioner-Appellant, and Deborah Beth Kerr, Respondent-Respondent, and Jenna Michelle Kerr, A Statutory Party.

A172901

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and submitted March 19, 2021.

April 14, 2021

Robert A. Kerr argued the cause pro se. Also on the briefs was Kerr Law Office P.C.

Peter Bunch, Portland, argued the cause for respondent. Also on the brief was The Law Firm of Peter Bunch, LLC.

Before Lagesen, Presiding Judge, and James, Judge, and Kamins, Judge.

PER CURIAM

In this case involving a dissolution of a long-term marriage, husband appeals the general judgment dissolving the parties’ marriage and a supplemental judgment granting wife's request that husband pay her attorney fees. We affirm.

Husband requests that we review de novo but has not persuaded us that we should exercise our discretion to do so. See Johnson and Johnson , 309 Or. App. 682, 688, 483 P.3d 1174 (2021) (citing ORS 19.415(3)(b) (granting us "sole discretion" to review de novo ) and ORAP 5.40(8)(c) (explaining that we will exercise our discretion to review de novo in "exceptional cases" only)). That, it turns out, is largely dispositive of this appeal.

With respect to the general judgment, husband contends that the trial court erred in awarding indefinite maintenance support to wife, asserting that an award of limited duration would have been more appropriate. Relatedly, he asserts that the court erred in requiring him to maintain indefinitely a life insurance policy for wife's benefit to ensure that the purpose of the indefinite award of spousal support is met in the event of husband's death. Absent a decision to review de novo , we examine the trial court's spousal support and life insurance determinations for abuse of discretion. Boatfield and Boatfield , 297 Or. App. 716, 720, 447 P.3d 35 (2019) ; Berg and Berg , 250 Or. App. 1, 5, 279 P.3d 286 (2012). The standard is deferential: We "will not disturb a trial court's determination unless the court misapplied the statutory and equitable considerations required by the statute permitting these awards." Boatfield , 297 Or. App. at 720, 447 P.3d 35. Having reviewed the record and considered husband's arguments, we see no grounds for disturbing the challenged determinations. As is almost always the case with discretionary determinations, the choices that the trial court made were not the only permissible ones the court could have made, but they are...