In re Mathis

• Decision Date: 25 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 113496.,113496.
• Parties: In re MARRIAGE OF Kenneth W. MATHIS, Appellant, and Terri D. Mathis, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

2012 IL 113496

986 N.E.2d 1139

369 Ill.Dec. 503

In re MARRIAGE OF Kenneth W. MATHIS, Appellant, and Terri D. Mathis, Appellee.

No. 113496.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Dec. 28, 2012.

Rehearing Denied March 25, 2013.

Traci E. Nally, Nally, Bauer, Feinen & Mann, P.C., Champaign, for appellant.

Sarah B. Tinney, Erwin, Martinkus & Cole, Ltd., Champaign, for appellee.

OPINION

Justice THEIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

[369 Ill.Dec. 504]¶ 1 This case presents a certified question for interlocutory review (see Ill. S.Ct. R. 308 (eff. Feb. 26, 2010)) from the Champaign County circuit court:

“In a bifurcated dissolution [of marriage] proceeding, when a grounds judgment has been entered, and when there is a lengthy delay between the date of the entry of the grounds judgment and the hearing on ancillary issues, is the appropriate date for valuation of marital property the date of dissolution or a date as close as practicable to the date of trial of the ancillary issues?”

¶ 2 The appellate court decided that the latter date was appropriate, pursuant to section 503(f) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/503(f) (West 2010)). 2011 IL App (4th) 110301, 356 Ill.Dec. 96, 960 N.E.2d 1219. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

¶ 3 BACKGROUND

¶ 4 Kenneth and Terri Mathis married in 1977 and had three children in the 1980s. On November 2, 2000, when the children were 16, 14, and 11 years old, Kenneth filed a petition for dissolution of marriage, and within weeks Terri filed a response. On March 26, 2001, Kenneth filed a stipulation in which he stated that the marriage was irretrievably broken, and asserted that he wished to obtain a judgment of dissolution without proof of fault. Kenneth also waived the statutory requirement that the parties live apart for two years. See 750 ILCS 5/401(a)(2) (West 2010). Terri filed a stipulation in which she too waived that requirement. That day, the trial court held a hearing on whether grounds for dissolution existed. The court's docket entry stated:

“Cause called for hearing on the issue of whether grounds for the dissolution of the parties' marriage exist. * * * Witness sworn. Evidence heard.

Finding by the Court that the parties have waived the two year separation requirement. Stipulation waiving such requirement on file. Further finding that the parties have lived separate and apart for a period in excess of six months, that irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the parties' marriage, that attempts at reconciliation have failed, and that future attempts are impracticable. Based upon the aforesaid finding the parties are awarded a judgment of dissolution of marriage. Ancillary issues are reserved for future consideration. Written judgment order on grounds to be entered.”

¶ 5 The cause proceeded from continuance to continuance for the remainder of 2001 and the majority of 2002. On October 23, 2002, a year and a half after the trial court's docket entry, Kenneth filed a “Motion for Entry of Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage (Grounds Only),” in which he mentioned the trial court's earlier finding that there were grounds for dissolution. Kenneth stated that the parties had been separated for approximately two years and had entered into a temporary joint parenting agreement. He further stated that the parties each had a “significant other,” with whom they resided when they were not occupying the former marital residence during parenting. Kenneth announced that he and his significant other had discussed marriage, and would have become engaged but for Terri's objection to the entry of a judgment of dissolution. Terri filed an answer, not a response, to this motion, in which she admitted or denied various statements in the motion paragraph by paragraph. On November 19, 2002, the trial court held a hearing on Kenneth's motion, and on its own motion continued the case. A month later, that hearing resumed. The trial court denied Kenneth's motion on December 18, 2002.

¶ 6 On March 17, 2003, the trial court entered a family law pretrial order, which set discovery cutoffs and scheduled a hearing on ancillary issues after six months. On September 3, 2003, Kenneth filed a second motion for the entry of a dissolution judgment on grounds only. The second motion was similar to the first motion. Kenneth reiterated the trial court's finding that there were grounds for dissolution on March 26, 2001. He stated that the parties' parenting agreement was tendered to the court, and the court had determined that the agreement was in the children's best interest. Kenneth noted that Terri objected to the entry of a judgment of dissolution, but claimed that this case was ongoing only because of the amount of discovery her expert business evaluator had requested. On September 8, 2003, the trial court vacated its pretrial order, and on September 9, it entered an amended pretrial order, which set new discovery cutoffs and scheduled a hearing on “all financial” issues, including the value of Kenneth's businesses and partnerships, on April 6–7, 2004. The trial court did not rule on Kenneth's motion.

¶ 7 On April 6, 2004, the trial court held a hearing on those issues. The next day, after noting that this case had been filed in November 2000 and stating that “these parties really need to get on with their lives,” the court on its own motion continued the hearing for five months, until September 2004. On August 26, 2004, the court entered an order titled, “Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage (Ancillary Matters Reserved).” In that order, the trial court simply repeated its docket entry that “irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” and that “efforts at reconciliation have failed and future attempts at reconciliation would be impracticable.” The court noted that the parties agreed to reserve ancillary issues and bifurcate the proceedings.

[369 Ill.Dec. 506]¶ 8 The September 2004 hearing on the ancillary issues was continued, and on September 2, 2004, the trial court entered a second amended pretrial order, which again set new discovery cutoffs and scheduled a hearing on ancillary issues for January 24, 2005. On December 20, 2004, the parties filed a joint motion to continue that hearing. The trial court granted their motion and vacated that date. On April 19, 2005, the trial court ordered the case continued generally.

¶ 9 On November 4, 2005, Kenneth filed a motion in limine to establish the valuation date for marital property. Relying on a long line of Illinois cases, he argued that the valuation date should be the date of the judgment of dissolution, and any evidence regarding the value of the marital property after that date was not probative and should be excluded. On December 30, 2005, both parties filed memoranda of law regarding the valuation date. The parties disputed whether, under section 503(f), the valuation date was the date of dissolution or the date of trial on ancillary matters. The trial court took that issue under advisement.

¶ 10 On February 1, 2006, nearly two years after its written order on dissolution and nearly five years after its docket entry on dissolution, the trial court entered a written order regarding, inter alia, the valuation date. The trial court stated that section 503(f) is unambiguous. According to the court:

“It seems * * * that section 503(f) is obviously designed to protect the appreciation in value of marital property (or to require a sharing of any depreciation) when there is a lengthy delay between the entry of a grounds judgment and the actual hearing on ancillary issues * * *. The objective of the Act is to equitably divide marital property. That can only be done by using current values.”

For support, the trial court relied on a treatise and a practice guide. See 1 H. Joseph Gitlin, Gitlin on Divorce: A Guide to Illinois Matrimonial Law § 8–13(i) (2007); Muller Davis & Jody Meyer Yazici, Illinois Practice of Family Law, at 263 (5th ed. 2002). The trial court concluded that the valuation date should be January 1, 2006. The court felt that date was within its discretion because it was “within the confines of the beginning of the ancillary proceedings and whenever the proceedings will be completed, probably later in the year.”

¶ 11 The trial court's optimism was not rewarded, as the parties engaged in more discovery, and more discovery disputes. They next returned to court in August 2007 to enter a stipulation regarding termination of child support for their youngest child, who by then had reached age 18. On August 30, 2007, the trial court entered an order to that effect. The next document in the record is a notice of hearing from Terri's attorney dated March 31, 2010.¹ The attorneys for the parties appeared in court on May 7, 2010, and the cause was continued for a hearing on ancillary issues after six months. On October 4, 2010, Terri filed a motion to change the valuation date. She requested that the court set the date no earlier than December 31, 2009. The significance of that date is not apparent from the record, because it fell within the extended period in which the parties did not appear in court and had no hearings scheduled. The next day, Kenneth filed a motion to reconsider the valuation date. He asked that the court set the date as August 26, 2004.

¶ 12 On November 16, 2010, the trial court held a hearing on all pending motions. On December 3, 2010, the trial court ordered that the valuation date for the businesses and partnerships partially owned by Kenneth would be December 31, 2010, and the valuation date for all other marital property would be “as close as practicable to the first date of any continued ancillary hearing.” On December 14, 2010, Kenneth filed a motion for a Rule 308 finding. On February 11, 2011, the court granted that motion in an oral ruling. On March 24, 2011, the court...