Sampinos v. Sampinos

• Decision Date: 25 February 1988
• Docket Number: No. 860114-CA,860114-CA
• Citation: 750 P.2d 615
• Parties: Donna R. SAMPINOS, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John S. SAMPINOS, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 615

750 P.2d 615

Donna R. SAMPINOS, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John S. SAMPINOS, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 860114-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Feb. 25, 1988.

Robert D. Maack (argued), Debra J. Moore, Watkiss & Campbell, Salt Lake City, for defendant and appellant.

Richard K. Crandall, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff and respondent.

Before BENCH, GARFF and GREENWOOD, JJ.

OPINION

GARFF, Judge:

Defendant John Sampinos seeks reversal or modification of the parties' divorce decree which awarded plaintiff Donna Sampinos $800 per month alimony. We affirm the trial court's order.

The parties were married on September 1, 1972; defendant for the second time and plaintiff for the third time. No children were born during their eleven year marriage which ended in divorce on November 1, 1984. During the course of the marriage, the parties separated four times for a total period of more than four years.

At the time of the marriage, defendant owned a business, the Savoy Club, which he operated until 1977, an unimproved building lot in Price and a joint interest with a cousin in farm equipment used to operate his parents' farm. Plaintiff owned a house known as "Miller Creek," some furniture, and received Social Security benefits of $310 per month as a consequence of her former husband's death. These benefits terminated upon her marriage to defendant but would have otherwise terminated eleven months later upon her son's sixteenth birthday.

During most of the marriage, neither of the parties enjoyed any particular wealth. Defendant was continuously employed at the Savoy Club, on the family farm, or as a carpenter. Plaintiff worked from time to time during the first three years of the marriage. Her earnings ranged from $700 to $1,000 per month. Plaintiff did not work during the final eight years of the marriage and was unemployed at the time of trial.

In 1977, plaintiff received an inheritance consisting of money and mineral interests worth approximately $10,000. During one of the parties' separations, plaintiff was forced to sell the Miller Creek house because she was unable to maintain it. In 1979, after plaintiff sold her house, defendant stopped contributing to her support. Nevertheless, he returned periodically to her apartment to eat, to have his clothes laundered, and to enjoy the comforts plaintiff worked to create in her home. Plaintiff's only financial resources during this time were the proceeds from the Miller Creek sale and her inheritance.

In 1973, defendant and his four sisters inherited the Sampinos family farm. In 1980, coal deposits were discovered, markedly increasing the farm's value. In October 1980, defendant and his sisters sold the farm, subject to leaseback of grazing and farming rights, for $2,300,000. Defendant's share of the coal contract proceeds was $460,000 before taxes. He received $69,000 as a down payment in 1980, with the balance payable in thirty semi-annual installments of $25,000 apiece. The final payment will occur in July 1996, when defendant is sixty-eight years old.

After sale of the coal rights, the parties enjoyed a more lavish lifestyle until their separation in 1983. In July 1980, the parties reconciled for the last time and purchased a home known as "Crestview" solely from proceeds of the coal rights sale.

The divorce decree awarded the farm sale contract to defendant as his sole and separate property. It also awarded defendant his interest in the Savoy Club, the farm equipment, the unimproved lot, and the Crestview house. Plaintiff received a $25,000 property settlement to compensate for her share of the house, Savoy assets, and marital contributions. Although the court found both parties able to work, it awarded plaintiff $800 alimony per month "based on defendant's ability to pay and on plaintiff's needs and loss of Social Security benefits." At the time of trial, defendant was fifty-five years old and plaintiff was fifty-two years old.

Three issues are raised on appeal: (1) did the trial court award plaintiff alimony based solely on defendant's ability to pay rather than on the parties' needs and income earning abilities; (2) did the trial court abuse its discretion in awarding plaintiff $800 per month alimony based on the coal contract proceeds after the trial court had found them to be defendant's sole and separate property; and (3) is Utah Code Ann. § 30-3-5 (1984) unconstitutionally discriminatory as applied here, in that defendant is required to pay alimony to plaintiff regardless of her actual needs?

In an action for divorce, the trial court has considerable discretion to provide for spousal support. Bushell v. Bushell, 649 P.2d 85, 88 (Utah 1982). A trial court's award of such support in a divorce proceeding will not be set aside absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Eames v. Eames, 735 P.2d 395, 397 (Utah Ct.App.1987). However, the trial court must make findings on all material issues, and such findings must be sufficiently detailed and consist of enough subsidiary facts to reveal the steps the court took to reach its conclusion on each factual issue presented. Failure to substantiate such findings constitutes reversible error unless the facts in the record are "clear, uncontroverted, and capable of supporting only a finding in favor of the judgment." Lee v. Lee, 744 P.2d 1378, 1380 (Utah Ct.App.1987) (quoting Acton v. J. B. Deliran, 737 P.2d 996, 999 (Utah 1987)).

I ALIMONY

Defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding plaintiff alimony based solely on his ability to pay rather than on the parties' needs and income-producing abilities. The Utah Supreme Court has enunciated that the purpose of spousal support is to "enable the receiving spouse to maintain as nearly as possible the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage and to prevent the spouse from becoming a public charge." Paffel v. Paffel, 732 P.2d 96, 100 (Utah 1986). Three factors must be considered in fixing alimony awards: (1) the financial condition and needs of the spouse claiming support; (2) the ability of the spouse to produce sufficient income for him- or herself; and (3) the ability of the responding spouse to provide the support. Id. at 101.

The first factor to be considered is plaintiff's financial condition and needs. The trial court awarded her $5,000 in cash, $20,000 secured by a mortgage on the Crestview home, payable in semi-annual installments, the household furnishings, an automobile, and any remainder of her inheritance. None of these assets is income-producing. Thus, even though she has some property, she has no external source of income.

The second factor is plaintiff's ability to produce sufficient income for herself. At the time of trial, she was fifty-two years old with no professional training and few marketable skills. Her work experience, gained during the early years of marriage, was in relatively unskilled jobs. During most of the marriage, including separations, plaintiff devoted her time to household maintenance. Under similar facts, the Utah Supreme Court stated that it is unrealistic to assume that a woman in her mid-fifty's with no substantial work experience or training would be able to enter the job market and support herself in a...