Mizzi v. Mizzi

• Decision Date: 24 October 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-256.,04-256.
• Citation: 889 A.2d 753,2005 VT 120
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court
• Parties: Sheila MIZZI v. Brian J. MIZZI.

889 A.2d 753

2005 VT 120

Sheila MIZZI v. Brian J. MIZZI.

No. 04-256.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

October 24, 2005.

¶ 1. Husband Brian J. Mizzi appeals from the family court's final divorce order dividing the parties' marital property. Husband contends that the court abused its discretion by: (1) failing to consider wife Sheila Mizzi's interest in property owned jointly with her mother as part of the marital property; (2) awarding possession of the marital home to wife; (3) dividing the marital property inequitably; and (4) allowing a relief-from-abuse order to remain in effect against husband until the end of the nisi period. We affirm.

¶ 2. The parties were married in Tampa, Florida on April 20, 1990. They had met in 1986 at a cat show, where husband was an exhibitor and wife, who also owned and operated a dog-grooming business, was a judge. Husband moved to Vermont in May 1994 and began construction of a three-bedroom marital residence on a 150-acre parcel of land in Fairfax, Vermont, which the parties owned as tenants by the entirety. Wife stayed in Florida until the summer of 1995, when she sold her business and joined husband in Vermont.

¶ 3. In addition to the Fairfax property, each of the parties held a one-third share in a piece of lakeshore property in Odessa, Florida, in which wife's mother held the other one-third share. Wife, her sister, and her mother were also listed as joint tenants on the deeds of four other properties in Florida and a house in St. Albans, Vermont. The parties stipulated to the division of most of their personal property, none of which is specifically at issue in this appeal.

¶ 4. The parties separated in September 2000, although they both continued to live at the marital home. Husband moved out of the marital home on March 11, 2002, after a dispute that resulted in a relief-from-abuse order against husband. On April 28, 2004, the family court issued an order granting the parties' divorce and dividing the marital property. The court awarded possession of the marital home to wife, requiring wife to pay husband $190,000 for his share of the home. The court also decreed each party one third of the Odessa, Florida property, ordering that the property be sold and the proceeds divided equally among husband, wife, and wife's mother. The court refused to award husband any portion of the property owned jointly by wife and her mother. Finally, the court refused to terminate the relief-from-abuse order immediately, instead leaving it in effect through the ninety-day nisi period, which ended July 1, 2004. Husband then appealed.

¶ 5. The property settlement section of Vermont's domestic relations law, 15 V.S.A. § 751, requires equitable division of marital property upon divorce, and provides twelve non-exclusive criteria to guide the family court in making this determination, including the length of the marriage, the role of each spouse in acquiring the property, the opportunity of each spouse for future earnings, and "the respective merits of the parties." 15 V.S.A. § 751(b). We have recognized, however, that "[d]ividing property to achieve an equitable result is not a science susceptible to hard and fast rules." Slade v. Slade, 2005 VT 39, ¶ 9, 178 Vt. ___, 872 A.2d 367 (mem.). Thus, Vermont family courts have wide discretion in the division of marital property, and we will uphold a family court's decision absent a showing of abuse or withholding of this discretion. Weaver v. Weaver, 173 Vt. 512, 513, 790 A.2d 1125, 1127 (2001) (mem.).

¶ 6. Husband first contends that the court abused its discretion in dividing the marital property by failing to consider wife's interest in the properties she held jointly with her sister and her mother. Husband maintains that because wife is listed on the deeds to these properties as a joint tenant, one-third of each property should have been included for equitable division by the court. Husband relies on Chilkott v. Chilkott and Lynch v. Lynch for the proposition that any form of property, no matter how or when it is acquired by either or both of the spouses, is subject to equitable division. See Chilkott, 158 Vt. 193, 195, 607 A.2d 883, 884 (1992) (holding that future interest in irrevocable trust was marital property subject to division); Lynch, 147 Vt. 574, 577, 522 A.2d 234, 235-36 (1987) (per curiam) (upholding family court's distribution of marital residence that was held in trust). Husband is correct that the court had jurisdiction over wife's share of the properties she owned with her mother. 15 V.S.A. § 751(a) ("All property owned by either or both of the parties, however and whenever acquired, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the court."). The statute, however, instructs courts not to rely on title alone in dividing marital property. Id. ("Title to the property. . . shall be immaterial. . . ."). Here, the court determined that while wife's name was listed with those of her sister and mother on each of the deeds, wife's mother was the actual owner of the properties in question. The court found that wife's mother had placed the names of her daughters on the deeds to avoid probate, and that both daughters understood that wife's mother retained "full authority to maintain, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of" the properties as she saw fit. The court did not abuse its discretion by looking behind the deeds and refusing to award any portion of these properties to husband. In fact, while the court would have been justified in ignoring wife's mother's properties for the purposes of equitable division, it took their value into account indirectly in its award of the marital home, stating that it "gave consideration to the fact that [wife's] mother will probably give [wife] financial assistance to pay [husband] his interest in the marital home."

¶ 7. Husband next argues that the court abused its discretion by awarding possession of the marital home to wife, and that the court lacked sufficient evidence to make the factual findings underlying this award. Factual findings will be overturned only if they are clearly erroneous. Trahnstrom v. Trahnstrom, 171 Vt. 507, 508, 756 A.2d 1242, 1244 (2000) (mem.). The court valued the home at $340,000 to $360,000. The court awarded possession of the home to wife, but required wife to pay $190,000 to husband for his share, stating that husband "shall have a $190,000 lien on the property until the balance has been paid in full." In reaching this decision, the court weighed each party's contribution to the home's purchase and...