In re Mills

• Citation: 983 N.W.2d 61
• Decision Date: 16 December 2022
• Docket Number: 21-0454
• Parties: IN RE the MARRIAGE OF Jason Dale MILLS and Erinn Ann Mills. Upon the Petition of Jason Dale Mills, Appellee, and Concerning Erinn Ann Mills n/k/a Erinn Ann Pierce, Appellant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Iowa

983 N.W.2d 61

IN RE the MARRIAGE OF Jason Dale MILLS and Erinn Ann Mills.

Upon the Petition of Jason Dale Mills, Appellee,

and Concerning Erinn Ann Mills n/k/a Erinn Ann Pierce, Appellant.

No. 21-0454

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Submitted October 12, 2022

Filed December 16, 2022

Ryan J. Mitchell of Orsborn, Mitchell, Goedken & Larson, P.C., Ottumwa, for appellant.

Heather M. Simplot of Harrison, Moreland, Webber & Simplot, P.C., Ottumwa, for appellee.

Oxley, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which all participating justices joined. Christensen, C.J., and May, J., took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

OXLEY, Justice.

A divorced husband challenges the award of spousal support to his former wife as ordered by the court of appeals. He contends the traditional spousal support award of $400 per month, and an increase to $1,000 per month upon the termination of his child support obligation, was inequitable, especially given the relatively short length of the parties’ marriage. For the reasons explained below, we hold that a spouse's permanent disability acquired during the parties’ marriage is an appropriate factor for consideration when determining a spousal support award, even when the length of the parties’ marriage does not meet the usual durational threshold. With respect to the amount of spousal support awarded in this case, however, we conclude the court of appeals erred in increasing the award to $1,000 per month upon the termination of the former husband's child support obligation.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

Jason and Erinn Mills married in May 2006. The parties welcomed the birth of their son later that same year. Prior to entering the marriage, Jason had obtained a bachelor's degree and was earning $40,899 per year at C&C Manufacturing. Although Erinn entered the marriage without a college education, she had obtained a phlebotomy certificate in 2005 and acquired part-time employment at a lab as a phlebotomist where she earned $7,024 the following year.

The parties signed a prenuptial agreement which generally provided their present and future property would remain separate, attaching a list of premarital assets. Jason's premarital assets consisted of a 2002 Harley Davidson valued at $15,000, a 401(k)-retirement plan valued at $30,000,¹ a house valued at $38,500 with a $32,000 mortgage, and such miscellaneous items as posters of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix and a Cheech & Chong album.

By comparison, Erinn's premarital assets were of much greater economic value, the most significant of which was an interest in her grandfather's trust—the J.O. Sheets Trust FBO Erinn Ann Pierce (Mills). Erinn received a distribution of $108,969.94 from that trust in 2008 and received the balance of her interest of $122,754.33 in 2013. Erinn and her brother also share remainder interests in another trust created by their grandfather, the J.O. Sheets Trust FBO JoAnne Pierce, created for the benefit of their mother. Although that trust was valued at $458,515 in 2006, Erinn's remainder interest remains subject to her mother's present interest. Aside from the trusts, the prenuptial agreement covered Erinn's four-acre farm she jointly owns with her mother, which includes a house, Morton building, and small barn. The property was valued at $140,000 with a $98,000 mortgage when the couple married.² Erinn used a portion of the trust proceeds she received during the marriage to pay off the mortgage and she invested the rest in various mutual funds, stocks, and securities, which were then transferred to her revocable trust.

Erinn was injured during the birth of the parties’ only child in 2006, when she suffered a "rupture of the pubic symphysis," otherwise known as a rupture between two of her pelvic bones. As a specialist³ explained it to Erinn, during delivery "the left side of [her] pelvis broke away from the right in the front, and in doing so, it rotated, and it ripped [the] muscles and tendons." This type of rupture causes muscle spasms that irritate and inflame the sciatic nerve. Following childbirth, Erinn was unable to dress herself, go to the bathroom, or walk without assistance. Erinn sought a second opinion at the Mayo Clinic a year later and received treatments that provided short-term relief. Erinn was told, however, that a permanent remedy, such as surgical repair, was not an option, and she was forced to live with the pain.

Erinn was determined to regain some normalcy in her life, resuming her work as a part-time phlebotomist approximately nine months after the childbirth injury. Maintaining a stable work schedule was difficult for Erinn as she was chronically late, and she explained that she "never knew from day to day getting up what [she] would feel like. So it just—it was very hard." According to Erinn, some days she would "wake up, and ... literally have to roll onto the ground before [she could] stand up." Due to her constant pain and its effect on her ability to function, Erinn quit working in 2014. Erinn said this was a decision Jason encouraged, although he denies that claim. The most Erinn earned as a part-time phlebotomist was $10,000 per year.

Jason filed for divorce in 2019 after the parties separated in August of that year. Although the parties did not live an extravagant lifestyle, Jason paid for most, if not all, of the marital expenses after Erinn stopped working, and Erinn described herself as "basically completely dependent on Jason" since then. Prior to trial, the parties stipulated to temporary joint physical care of their child. Jason paid temporary child support payments of $428.35 per month, along with several of Erinn's expenses in lieu of spousal support, including an outstanding medical bill as well as her monthly car payment, car insurance, and utilities.

The district court conducted a two-day trial in February 2021. The parties agreed on the property settlement⁴ and shared legal custody and physical care of their son, but disagreed on the issue of child support. Erinn also requested spousal support, but the parties disagreed as to its amount and duration.

At the time of trial, Jason was forty-six years old and Erinn was forty-two. They had been married for almost fifteen years. Jason remained employed at C&C Manufacturing as a product manager, where his income continued to rise during the marriage. Jason was earning $74,468.16 per year, or $49,962.12 after taxes. Erinn, on the other hand, was unemployed. She earned just under $9,000 in dividends from the J.O. Sheets Trust in 2019.

Much of Jason's evidence at trial focused on the wealth of Erinn's family. For example, he testified that Erinn's family would never let her want for anything and have always supported her financially and that Erinn would eventually receive money from her father's estate (even though Erinn's mother was the estate's sole beneficiary). Jason also pointed out Erinn's remainder interest in the J.O. Sheets Trust, as well as her own revocable trust, which was valued at $142,077.17 at the time of trial. Jason also believed that Erinn was capable of working and pointed to her ability to care for horses on her four-acre farm.

Erinn testified that she received between $200 and $320 per month in dividends from her revocable trust. She also explained that although she had boarded her father's Arabian show horses over the years, her injuries limited the type of care she could provide them. And by 2019, after her father had stopped showing horses, she was no longer boarding them. Before that, she had earned income from boarding her father's horses totaling $6,400 in 2016, $5,200 in 2017, and $3,600 in 2018.

Erinn further testified about her constant and "debilitating" pain from her disability and its impact on her ability to maintain employment. Erinn explained she could not return to work "[b]ecause ... it's too hard ... to be in one position too much. It hurts to sit too long. It hurts to stand too long. It hurts to walk too much." Erinn's physician also testified that Erinn is unable to work in any capacity due to her chronic pain from the childbirth injury. According to the physician, there was "zero" likelihood of Erinn's injury improving.

The district court expressly found credible Erinn's testimony "that she is currently unable to work because of the pain" from the ruptured pelvis she suffered in 2006. Implicit in the district court's finding that her continuing pain made her unable to work fourteen years after the injury is the conclusion that she had been, and continued to be, disabled. Erinn's credible testimony, coupled with her physician's testimony that her injury would not improve, supports a conclusion that Erinn is permanently disabled.

Erinn requested $2,000 per month in spousal support in addition to Jason making her monthly vehicle payment of $460. Jason countered that he would assume responsibility for the $10,643.58 debt owed on Erinn's vehicle if he was not ordered to pay her spousal support. Erinn testified that without spousal support she would be forced to rely solely on the funds from her revocable trust, which would soon be depleted.

Although the district court found Erinn's testimony regarding her inability to work credible, it relied on a number of factors to conclude she was not entitled to any type of spousal support. These included Erinn's interests in both her own revocable trust as well as the J.O. Sheets Trust, the parties’ distribution of property and shared physical care of their son, the likelihood of Erinn either qualifying for disability benefits⁵ or seeking employment, Jason's obligation to pay the balance of the marital debt, and the parties’ marriage lasting only fifteen years. The district court considered only Erinn's investment income for purposes of the child support calculations and increased Jason's child support obligation from the temporary amount of $428 per month to $613.25 per month.

Erinn appealed, and we transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court...