Marriage of Fleener, In re

• Decision Date: 17 November 1976
• Docket Number: No. 2-57080,2-57080
• Parties: In re the MARRIAGE OF Cathryn FLEENER and Jerry Dean Fleener. Upon the Petition of Cathryn FLEENER, Appellant, and Concerning Jerry Dean FLEENER, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 219

247 N.W.2d 219

In re the MARRIAGE OF Cathryn FLEENER and Jerry Dean Fleener.

Upon the Petition of Cathryn FLEENER, Appellant,

and Concerning Jerry Dean FLEENER, Appellee.

No. 2-57080.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Nov. 17, 1976.

Heslinga & Heslinga, Oskaloosa, for appellant.

Gilbert & Stoddard, Oskaloosa, for appellee.

Submitted to REYNOLDSON, Acting C. J., and MASON, LeGRAND, UHLENHOPP and HARRIS, JJ.

LeGRAND, Justice.

A decree dissolving the marriage of Gathryn Fleener and Jerry Dean Fleener was entered on January 15, 1974. It provided that custody of their two children, who were then eleven and seven years old respectively, should be awarded to Cathryn. The decree also awarded child support and made disposition of the property owned by the parties. It awarded no alimony.

Cathryn appeals and asks us to increase the amount of child support; to award her suitable alimony; and to fix her attorney fees on this appeal.

No question of custody or rights of visitation is involved. Neither does Cathryn contest the provisions of the property settlement effected. With the modifications hereafter set out, we affirm the trial court.

The parties were married in 1962 when both were quite young. At the time of the divorce, Cathryn was 28 and Jerry 29. Jerry had graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in agronomy. Cathryn finished high school.

Jerry has worked his entire adult life for Allied Chemical & Gas Company of Oskaloosa, Iowa, a company owned by his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hackert. His income varies because he is paid a bonus in addition to his salary. At the time of the decree, his base salary was $10,000 per year. In addition, he was provided a car and a small travel allowance of $50 per month. In 1971, he earned $15,502.84. In 1972, his earnings were $16,473.29. From 1968 through 1972, the last year for which figures are available, Jerry's earnings showed a substantial annual increase. Cathryn was unemployed during the marriage. The parties separated in January of 1973, when Cathryn and the two child moved to Cedar Rapids. At the time of the decree, she was employed there, earning a gross salary of $425 per month.

The parties lived well and accumulated little by way of net worth. Their total assets amounted to $57,622, most of which was tied up in the value of a home and furnishings which together had a fair market value of $55,000. However, these assets were offset by combined liabilities of $51,768.11. Again, most of the indebtedness was against the house, which the decree described as 'inordinately expensive.' The trial court fixed the net worth of the parties at $5,853.89. Neither Cathryn nor Jerry disputes these figures.

At the time of their marriage, neither Cathryn nor Jerry had any property. What they now have was accumulated by their joint efforts, Jerry by working and supporting the family and Cathryn by caring for the home and rearing the children.

It is contended both expected to remarry, but the evidence discloses nothing of Cathryn's future marital plans. At trial time, Jerry had already established his prospective bride and her two children by a previous marriage in the home which he and Cathryn had built. Cathryn and her two children, on the other hand, were living in a two bedroom apartment in Cedar Rapids for which she paid rent of $155 per month.

Cathryn was given only the furniture in the children's bedrooms, a 1965 Pontiac automobile, her own clothing and personal effects, certain specified items of furniture and furnishings and one-half of the dishware, silverware, pots and pans, linens and towels. All else went to Jerry.

Although the trial court awarded Jerry substantially all the property, this amounted to little more than an opportunity to redeem it from almost hopeless indebtedness because he took it subject to all obligations of both parties except several incidental debts Cathryn incurred after their separation.

Jerry was ordered to pay Cathryn $5,000 by way of property settlement to be paid either in one lump sum or in annual installments of $1,000. If he elected to make annual payments, the unpaid installments were to bear interest at the rate of seven percent. This represented virtually the total net worth of the parties. Cathryn does not contest the property settlement, but insists she should also have alimony.

I. Payment of alimony...