Liss v. Liss, 42813

• Decision Date: 01 July 1980
• Docket Number: No. 42813,42813
• Citation: 294 N.W.2d 341,206 Neb. 587
• Parties: Geraldine M. LISS, Appellee, v. Peter J. LISS, Appellant.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 341

294 N.W.2d 341

206 Neb. 587

Geraldine M. LISS, Appellee, v. Peter J. LISS, Appellant.

No. 42813.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

July 1, 1980.

Syllabus by the Court

Divorce: Alimony: Property Division. In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, the fixing of alimony or distribution of property rests in the sound discretion of the trial court and, in the absence of an abuse of discretion, will not be disturbed on appeal.

Louis M. Leahy of Leahy & Render, Omaha, for appellant.

Charles I. Scudder, Omaha, for appellee.

Heard before McCOWN and WHITE, JJ., and COLWELL, STANLEY, and SPRAGUE, District Judges.

STANLEY, District Judge.

This is an action for dissolution of marriage. The District Court for Douglas County, Nebraska, entered its decree dissolving the marriage, granting custody of the minor child to the wife, dividing the property, and granting alimony to the wife. The husband has appealed, challenging the property division and alimony provisions of the decree.

The parties were married on July 28, 1955. They had two children, only one of whom was still a minor at the time the wife filed the petition for dissolution of the marriage on January 5, 1979. The minor child, Corey, was born October 1, 1968.

The husband, who was 55 years old at the time of trial, is physically disabled from cardiac disease and has not worked since October 21, 1976. He has received disability payments under the Social Security Act since May 1977. During the course of the marriage, the wife was a homemaker and mother and handled the family finances.

The wife, who was 45 years old at the time of trial, has a high school degree and, at the time of trial, was enrolled in a CETA financial business course in order to qualify herself for a job. She had gross earnings of $416 per month from the CETA job. At the time of trial, the husband's fixed income was $385.40 derived from Social Security disability and $116 from his pension at Swift & Company, for a total of $501.40 per month.

During the marriage, the parties acquired a residence and personal property. The assets accumulated were from the husband's wages, social security benefits, and a pension income. At the time of trial, the residence was valued at approximately $28,900, subject to a mortgage of $9,090. Accumulated savings amounted to $32,146.70.

The decree of the District Court granted custody of the minor child to the wife and relieved the husband of any obligation to make child support payments, due to his disability, but preserved the minor child's right to receive payments of $161.60 per month under the Social Security Act based on the husband's disability.

The decree also made a division of the property which awarded to the wife the parties' residence, subject to the encumbrance and a lien in favor of the husband in the amount of $9,000 with interest at 8 percent per annum. This divided the equity in the home equally between the parties. The decree also...