Riaz v. Riaz, 55933
| Decision Date | 09 May 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 55933,55933 |
| Citation | 789 S.W.2d 224 |
| Parties | Ghazala RIAZ, Petitioner-Respondent, v. Muhammad Jawaid RIAZ, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Walther and Roberts, Michael C. Walther, St. Louis, for respondent-appellant.
Linda Murphy, St. Louis, for petitioner-respondent.
Husband, Muhammad Jawaid Riaz, appeals from the decree of dissolution of his marriage to wife, Ghazala Riaz. We affirm.
At the trial of this case there was sharply conflicting evidence which the trial court was called upon to resolve. The credibility of the parties was a key issue. On appeal, we do not retry the case, rather we accept as true the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the prevailing party and disregard contradictory evidence. Hughes v. Hughes, 761 S.W.2d 274, 276 (Mo.App.1988). We acknowledge the superior position of the trial court to judge factors such as credibility, sincerity, character of the witnesses and other intangibles that are not revealed in a trial transcript. Indermuehle v. Babbitt, 771 S.W.2d 873, 875 (Mo.App.1989). Within the guidelines of these fundamental precepts, we now review the record in this case.
Husband and wife entered into an "arranged" marriage in Pakistan on January 10, 1980, after they had known each other for only about five days. They separated in January 1987. Two children were born of the marriage: a daughter on June 5, 1981; and a son on June 11, 1986.
At the time of the marriage, husband was living in the United States. He had obtained an M.B.A. degree in the United States and was employed in Warm Springs, Virginia, a resort area. His background was in restaurant-lodging management. Wife had earned the equivalent of an M.D. degree in Pakistan. She wanted to come to the United States to specialize in neurology.
Immediately after their marriage in January 1980, husband returned to the United States. Wife was employed as a doctor in Pakistan; but left her position within two months of the marriage with a view to joining her husband who was sponsoring her entry into the United States. It wasn't until the following September 1980, however, that she arrived in Warm Springs, Virginia. In June 1981, their first child was born.
Wife resided in Warm Springs, Virginia, until July 1981, when she moved to Richmond, Virginia, to commence her internship in neurology. Wife was first in an internship program, followed by a three-year residency program and an additional year for a fellowship. For the five years that wife pursued her medical specialty, husband worked in Warm Springs four days during the week and commuted to Richmond for three-day extended weekends. During the three days he was home, husband helped with the household chores and cared for the parties' daughter while wife worked 24 hour rotations at the hospital.
In June 1986, the parties moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where wife had accepted a position with a university medical school. Husband quit his job in Virginia and told wife that he wanted to start a business with his brother, a medical doctor who also resided in St. Louis. The parties' second child was born in June 1986. Wife began her employment with the university in July 1986. Husband remained at home and did not work. In November 1986, wife sat for her board certification exam in neurology. She became board certified in December 1986. In January 1987, wife filed for dissolution.
Wife testified that throughout the marriage husband controlled their finances in a penurious manner and was secretive about his income as well as their investments. Wife merely gave husband her paychecks and he in turn gave her $20.00 a week for spending money. He did most of the shopping for the family. Wife had to ask husband for more money if she needed it, at which time he usually berated her for requesting additional sums. Husband was argumentative and short-tempered; and he frequently hurled offending comments at wife, disparaging both her and her family. He even threatened wife physically. After the separation, husband failed to comply with a pendente lite order for child support and was over $4,300.00 in arrears at the time of dissolution.
The parties' respective earnings throughout the marriage were as follows:
HUSBAND WIFE
1981 $36,763.00 $ 8,736.00
1982 42,334.00 17,650.00
1983 47,246.00 19,483.00
1984 52,308.00 21,244.00
1985 71,539.00 24,302.00
1986 20,708.00 (estimate) 42,755.00
1987 $ 5,240.00 $63,411.00
Wife's employment contract with the university medical center was for $60,000.00 per year, plus yearly bonuses from her particular department within the hospital. At the time of the dissolution, husband testified that he was managing two convenience stores which his brother had purchased in December 1986 and that he was earning $6.00 per hour. He denied, although his wife disputed the fact, that he possessed an ownership interest in his brother's two businesses. Husband had written two checks totalling $5,000.00 for the earnest money deposits to purchase the two businesses. He alleged that these were loans to his brother.
The trial court set aside certain property as separate property and divided the marital assets as follows:
TO WIFE
Separate Property Value
Specified Jewelry $ 4,855.00
Lot in Pakistan 38,000.00
-----------
$42,855.00
Marital Property Value
Specified Household Goods $ 7,650.00
Plymouth 1,000.00
Honda 3,000.00
IRA account 14,500.00
Wife's life insurance policy 4,000.00
Husband's life insurance policy 4,000.00
Bank account 65,000.00
Marital Home (equity) 80,000.00
-----------
$177,720.48
TO HUSBAND
Separate Property Value
21 acres in Pakistan $ 60,000.00
4 acres in Pakistan 34,000.00
Inheritance from father 20,000.00
Canadian Bank account 2,557.00
Cash prior to marriage 30,000.00
Common stock 6,000.00
-----------
$152,557.00
Marital Property Value
Two IRA accounts $ 30,000.00
Station Wagon 4,000.00
Cash in his possession plus $5,000 earnest money 35,000.00
Bank account 46,035.00
-----------
$115,035.24
The trial court awarded primary custody of the two children to wife and ordered husband to pay child support of $350.00 per child per month. The trial court also ordered husband to pay wife's attorney's fees in the amount of $5,000.00, which fees the court determined were incurred as a result of husband's attempts to hide assets. Otherwise, each party was to pay his or her respective attorney's fees.
In his first point, husband contends that the trial court erred in dividing the marital property because the division of property failed to take into consideration the increase in wife's "human capital" which occurred during their marriage. Husband argues that he was entitled to part of the present value of wife's projected future earnings because he supported her, not during the acquisition of her medical degree, but during her internship, residency, and board certification in neurology. He urges that her increased earning potential be considered marital property.
Missouri courts have not recognized that an educational degree, or a professional license secured as a result of such education, constitutes marital property subject to division by the court in a dissolution proceeding. See Roark v. Roark, 694 S.W.2d 912, 915 (Mo.App.1985); In re Marriage of Dusing, 654 S.W.2d 938, 946 (Mo.App.1983). We acknowledge that some courts have accepted that the spouse who financially supports the other spouse while he or she obtains a higher education should be compensated for the increased earning capacity, or "human capital," of the educated spouse. See generally O'Brien v. O'Brien, 66 N.Y.2d 576, 489 N.E.2d 712, 498 N.Y.S.2d 743 (1985) (); Woodworth v. Woodworth, 126 Mich.App. 258, 337 N.W.2d 332 (1983) (). This viewpoint, however, was not accepted by the Missouri Supreme Court in Hanson v. Hanson, 738 S.W.2d 429, 435 (Mo. banc 1987): See also Rapp v. Rapp, 789 S.W.2d 148, 149 (Mo.App.E.D.1990).
We need not, however, further consider this issue in the context of this case. The factors which justify classifying the present value of the educated spouse's earning capacity as a marital asset are not present here. Husband did not provide the funds for wife to attend medical school; but rather married her...
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