Laffey v. Laffey

• Decision Date: 19 March 2002
• Docket Number: No. WD 59824.,WD 59824.
• Citation: 72 S.W.3d 143
• Parties: Mayetta Norlene LAFFEY, Appellant, v. Patrick Isaac LAFFEY, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

72 S.W.3d 143

Mayetta Norlene LAFFEY, Appellant, v. Patrick Isaac LAFFEY, Respondent.

No. WD 59824.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

March 19, 2002.

James A. Rahm and Renae L. Ehler, Carrollton, for Appellant.

Patrick E. Richardson, Green City, for Respondent.

Before ROBERT G. ULRICH, P.J., PATRICIA A. BRECKENRIDGE and LISA WHITE HARDWICK, JJ.

ROBERT G. ULRICH, Presiding Judge.

Mayetta Laffey appeals the judgment of the trial court modifying her award of maintenance from $500 per week to $500 per month. She raises several points on appeal. First, Ms. Laffey claims that Patrick Laffey failed to make the requisite showing of a substantial and continuing change of circumstances that rendered the original award unreasonable. Next, she contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her motion to dismiss Mr. Laffey's motion to modify. Third, Ms. Laffey contends that the trial court erred in designating the maintenance award as non-modifiable because the court lacked the statutory authority to make such designation in a judgment modifying maintenance. Fourth, she claims that the trial court erred in reducing the amount of maintenance because the modified amount was based on speculative evidence. Finally, Ms. Laffey argues that the judgment contains unclear and contradictory terms that prevent the reader from being able to readily ascertain the court's intent. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the case is remanded to the trial court with directions consistent with this opinion.

Facts

The parties' 38-year marriage was dissolved in June 1998. The judgment dissolving the marriage disposed of the parties' marital and nonmarital property and their debts. Ms. Laffey was awarded all her lawful interests in pending medical malpractice and personal injury claims. She was also responsible for all medical expenses, estimated at $91,035, relating to those claims. The trial court did not assign a value to Ms. Laffey's claims but provided, "Any substantial recovery at a future date may be a basis for a modification of maintenance, but the Court does not find that it should further impact the division of property." Mr. Laffey was ordered to pay Ms. Laffey $500 per week in maintenance. The maintenance award was designated as modifiable. The judgment was upheld on appeal. Laffey v. Laffey, 4 S.W.3d 655 (Mo.App. W.D.1999).

In March 2000, Ms. Laffey's left leg and hip joint were amputated. In April 2000, Ms. Laffey settled her personal injury claim for $175,000. From the settlement, Ms. Laffey received net proceeds of $70,551.79. She paid her attorney's fees and expenses relating to the personal injury claim in the amount of $58,700.78, settled and paid $56,237.82 in medical bills for $37,228.43, and paid attorney's fees and expenses incurred in her divorce case in the amount of $8,519. Mr. Laffey also settled his collateral loss of consortium claim for $12,000. With these proceeds, Mr. Laffey paid all of his outstanding attorney's fees from the divorce case.

In May 2000, Mr. Laffey filed a motion to modify the judgment and decree of dissolution as to maintenance alleging substantial and continuing changes in circumstances including a decrease in his income, deterioration of his health, and the settlement of Ms. Laffey's personal injury case for $175,000.

Ms. Laffey filed a motion for contempt in August 2000 alleging that although Mr. Laffey had paid all required maintenance payments through February 2000 and $300 in early March, he had failed to make any payments thereafter. The trial court issued a show cause order directing Mr. Laffey to appear on September 1, 2000. Following the hearing, the trial court entered a judgment of contempt finding Mr. Laffey in civil contempt of the June 1998 judgment of dissolution. The court found that Mr. Laffey was in arrears on maintenance in the amount of $13,700 plus interest of $346.02. The court further found that Mr. Laffey "failed to prove an inability to pay said amounts and currently has the ability to pay partial spousal maintenance to [Ms. Laffey] and has contumaciously refused to do so." Accordingly, the court ordered Mr. Laffey to be held in the county jail until the arrearage was paid in full but stayed execution until October 1, 2000, to pay the first month's arrearage payment and a like stay, pending said monthly payment, until the second day of each month thereafter. Mr. Laffey made payments of $2,167 to Ms. Laffey for each of months October, November, and December 2000, and paid $500 in January 2001. He made no other payments thereafter.

The hearing on Mr. Laffey's motion to modify was held in February 2001. At the commencement of the hearing, Ms. Laffey presented her motion to dismiss, which was taken with the case. Following the hearing, the trial court entered its judgment modifying the maintenance award and denying Ms. Laffey's motion to dismiss. The court found that since the original judgment of dissolution, substantial and continuing changes of circumstances had occurred that made unreasonable the maintenance award in the original judgment. Specifically, the trial court found that Mr. Laffey's average annual income had decreased, his health had deteriorated, Ms. Laffey had settled her personal injury claim for $175,000, and Mr. Laffey no longer had the ability to meet his financial needs and pay spousal maintenance in the amount of $500 per week. The trial court reduced Ms. Laffey's maintenance award from $500 per week to $500 per month retroactive to May 1, 2000. The trial court also designated the maintenance as non-modifiable and ordered that the maintenance award would terminate once Ms. Laffey begins to receive social security benefits as Mr. Laffey's former spouse, provided she receives at least $500 per month. If the social security payment is not $500 or more per month, Mr. Laffey is to pay Ms. Laffey the difference each month until either parties dies or Ms. Laffey remarries. This appeal by Ms. Laffey followed.

Standard of Review

In an action to modify maintenance, the trial court's judgment will be upheld on appeal unless the judgment is not supported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976); Adams v. Adams, 51 S.W.3d 541, 546 (Mo.App. W.D.2001). The appellate court views the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the judgment and disregards all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Adams, 51 S.W.3d at 546.

Point I

Substantial and Continuing Change of Circumstances

In her first point on appeal, Ms. Laffey contends that the trial court erred in modifying her maintenance because Mr. Laffey failed to show a substantial and continuing change of circumstances that rendered the original award unreasonable.

Section 452.370 governs modification of maintenance. It provides in pertinent part, "[T]he provisions of any judgment respecting maintenance or support may be modified only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the terms unreasonable." § 452.370.1.¹ This statutory standard for modification is designed to be strict so as to discourage recurrent and insubstantial motions for modification. Lemmon v. Lemmon, 958 S.W.2d 601, 603 (Mo.App. W.D.1998). Changed circumstances sufficient to support modification of maintenance, therefore, must be proven by detailed evidence. Id. The party moving for modification of maintenance bears the burden of proving substantial and continuing change. Id.

A change in circumstances rises to the requisite statutory level when it renders the obligor spouse unable to pay maintenance at the assigned rate or when the recipient of the support could meet his or her reasonable needs with a lesser amount of maintenance. Martino v. Martino, 33 S.W.3d 582, 584 (Mo.App. E.D. 2000); Sprouse v. Sprouse, 969 S.W.2d 836, 839-840 (Mo.App. W.D.1998). While a decrease in the income of the spouse paying maintenance or an increase in the income of the spouse receiving maintenance are both relevant factors for the court to consider, neither alone requires the court to modify the amount of maintenance previously ordered. Draper v. Draper, 982 S.W.2d 289, 291 (Mo.App. W.D.1998). The ultimate issue remains whether these changes are sufficiently substantial and continuing so as to make the original terms of the decree unreasonable. Id. at 291-292.

At the hearing on his motion to modify, Mr. Laffey presented evidence that since the judgment of dissolution in 1998, his income has decreased. The evidence showed that throughout his adult life, Mr. Laffey has relied primarily on farming as his source of income. Mr. Laffey testified that his annual farm income fluctuates from year to year due to commodity prices, weather, and crop varieties. Mr. Laffey further testified that the time of sale of his crops also explained the fluctuations in his yearly income. For instance, Mr. Laffey earned $12,670 in 1999 and $29,337 in 2000 because some crops grown in 1999 were actually sold in 2000. Because Mr. Laffey's farm income in any given year may not truly reflect the income he earns on a regular basis, Mr. Laffey presented, and the trial court properly considered, evidence of his average farm income over a number of years. A party's past, present, and future earning capacity may be considered as competent evidence of a party's ability to pay maintenance. Nelson v. Nelson, 14 S.W.3d 645, 650 (Mo.App. E.D.2000). The evidence showed that Mr. Laffey's average farm income at the time of the dissolution in 1998 was $2,248 per month (based on an average of his farm income from 1985 through 1997). At the time of the hearing on his motion to modify, Mr. Laffey's monthly income had decreased to $1,768.58. His average monthly farm income from 1998 through 2000 was $1,698.33, and he also...