Sampson v. Sampson
| Decision Date | 29 October 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-P-57.,03-P-57. |
| Citation | 816 NE 2d 999,62 Mass. App. Ct. 366 |
| Parties | A. WAYNE SAMPSON v. ELAINE M. SAMPSON. |
| Court | Appeals Court of Massachusetts |
Present: LENK, KAFKER, & GREEN, JJ.
Wendy H. Sibbison for Elaine M. Sampson.
George P. Lordan, Jr. (Dennis P. Derrick with him) for A. Wayne Sampson.
Elaine M. Sampson (wife), the former wife of A. Wayne Sampson (husband), appeals from a judgment of the Probate Court which divides the parties' property and orders the husband to pay to her $200 a week as alimony for no longer than three years. She contends that the amount of weekly alimony fails to consider her needs, the three-year durational limit was improper, and the division of assets was flawed by the asymmetrical treatment and double counting of assets. As we conclude that the provisions for alimony and property division must be set aside, we remand the matter to the Probate Court for the framing of a more suitable award.
1. The facts. The parties were married in October, 1977, and separated in August, 2001. No children were born of the union. The husband, a police chief, holds a juris doctor degree, and earns $1,932.68 a week.1 The wife holds several insurance licences and owns her own insurance agency and, although she "does not consistently work full time," earns $806 a week. At the time of trial, the parties were each fifty years of age and in good health. The judge characterized their station as "middle income."
During the marriage the parties owned and lived in a home located at 48 Old Mill Road in Shrewsbury. In June, 2000, they agreed to demolish that home and construct a new home on the same site. At the time of trial, the wife lived in the (almost completed) new home, which had an appraised value of $700,000 and equity (after the payment of construction and other loans) of $417,200. The marital estate also included the husband's interest in property located at 100 Old Mill Road (valued at approximately $30,000),2 the husband's State pension (present value $762,425),3 the husband's deferred compensation account ($31,032.64), the husband's individual retirement accounts ($23,404.81), the wife's insurance agency (fair market value, based on a capitalized income method, of $175,000 — an amount, as we shall discuss, that is challenged by the wife), the wife's individual retirement account ($7,134.54), and certain other personal and intangible property in the parties' individual names including automobiles, jewelry, and bank accounts.
The judge concluded that although the husband was the primary wage earner in this long-term marriage, the marriage was a partnership in which both parties contributed equally, entitling them to an "approximately equal division of the marital assets." To effectuate his intended division, the judge assigned to the wife her business, $121,100 from the proceeds from the sale of the marital home,4 and other assets worth $62,000.5 The judge also ordered the husband to transfer to the wife by domestic relations order an amount equal to 46.5 percent of his State pension benefits accrued as of the date of the judgment. The judge assigned to the husband $296,100 from the proceeds of the sale of the marital home ($175,000 to offset the value of the wife's business plus one-half of the equity then remaining in the house i.e., $121,100), his interest in the property located at 100 Old Mill Road, and other assets totaling $50,150 in value. The husband was also assigned his remaining interest in his State pension plan. In addition, the husband was granted the right (discussed more fully, infra) to pursue any claim the parties might have against the wife's brother for certain monies the parties lent him during the marriage. Finally, the judge awarded the wife alimony in the amount of $200 a week to be paid until the death of either party, the remarriage of the wife, or for a period of three years, "whichever is sooner."
After the wife's motion to alter or amend the judgment was denied, she filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of divorce and from the order denying her motion to alter or amend, challenging the alimony and property division award.
2. Alimony. The wife argues that the alimony award must be vacated as it fails properly to consider her need as measured by the parties' marital standard of living.
The principles governing awards of alimony are well established. "The focus of any financial award must include `the crucial issue in an alimony dispute, namely, the spouse's need for support and maintenance in relationship to the respective financial circumstances of the parties.'" Grubert v. Grubert, 20 Mass. App. Ct. 811, 819 (1985), quoting from Partridge v. Partridge, 14 Mass. App. Ct. 918, 919 (1982). See Rosenberg v. Rosenberg, 33 Mass. App. Ct. 903, 904 (1992); D.L. v. G.L., 61 Mass. App. Ct. 488, 507 (2004). "The standard of need is measured by the `station' of the parties — by what is required to maintain a standard of living comparable to the one enjoyed during the marriage." Grubert v. Grubert, 20 Mass. App. Ct. at 819. See Kehoe v. Kehoe, 31 Mass. App. Ct. 958, 959 (1992). "Although alimony and property division serve different purposes, they are interrelated remedies that cannot be viewed apart" (citations omitted). D.L. v. G.L., 61 Mass. App. Ct. at 508. "Upon consideration of the factors specified in G. L. c. 208, § 34, a judge has considerable discretion in fashioning an alimony award." Ibid.
In awarding the wife up to three years of alimony in the amount of $200 per week, in addition to her present weekly pretax income of $806, the judge concluded that the wife would be able to meet her expenses now, while working towards self-sufficiency in three years. After the payment of State and Federal income taxes, the wife represents that she will have approximately $675 a week to live on.6
The judge's own findings cast doubt on the wife's present ability to meet her ordinary needs. While the judge's finding that the wife's stated weekly expenses of $816 was "somewhat inflated" is not clearly erroneous,7 the judge recognized that the wife's financial statement did not reflect any rent or housing expenses. Furthermore, neither the judgment nor the findings explain how the wife, on net yearly income of $35,100, presently can achieve (or approximate) the comfortable middle income standard of living the parties enjoyed during the marriage.8 Clearly, the marital assets assigned to the wife will not allow her to make up the difference. As the wife correctly states, the sole practical value of her business is as a source of income.9 Should she sell her business, she would lose her job and her income. Similarly, the wife cannot derive meaningful income from the liquid capital of $121,100.
In stark contrast, the husband's postdivorce, gross annual income will exceed $90,000 after the payment of alimony. The judgment also awards him almost $300,000 in cash in addition to his interest in the property located at 100 Old Mill Road.
Where, as here, the judge's financial disposition leaves one party (the wife) presently in economically straitened circumstances while the other party (the husband) is virtually guaranteed continued enjoyment of the secure, comfortable marital lifestyle, the order for alimony cannot stand. See Goldman v. Goldman, 28 Mass. App. Ct. 603, 611 (1990) (). Cf. Kehoe v. Kehoe, 31 Mass. App. Ct. at 959-960.
The wife also argues that the judge erred in placing a three year limit on the alimony award. We agree. We have admonished that "an arbitrary limitation on the duration of an alimony obligation to a spouse whose needs are current and predictable is unwarranted when based on an assumption of future events, the occurrence of which is uncertain or unpredictable." Katz v. Katz, 55 Mass. App. Ct. 472, 482-483 (2002). See Goldman v. Goldman, 28 Mass. App. Ct. at 613 (); Martin v. Martin, 29 Mass. App. Ct. 921, 921-922 (1990); D.L. v. G.L., 61 Mass. App. Ct. at 510. It is simply uncertain at this juncture whether the wife, a sole proprietor of a small business, will be able to earn sufficient additional income so as to render alimony unnecessary. In the circumstances, the durational limit on the alimony award must be set aside. "Needless to say, should their circumstances change in the future, the parties are free to return to court for an appropriate modification order." D.L. v. G.L., 61 Mass. App. Ct. at 510.
Accordingly, the alimony award must be vacated and the matter remanded to the Probate Court for further proceedings. As alimony and equitable division, as we have stated, may be interrelated remedies, and as there are additional reasons (discussed infra) why the property division cannot stand, we vacate also those provisions of the judgment providing for the equitable division of the parties' property.
3. The property division. "An equitable . . . division of property is the ultimate goal of G. L. c. 208, § 34." Williams v. Massa, 431 Mass. 619, 626 (2000). Here, although the judge was apparently of the opinion that an equal division of the marital assets would be an equitable division, a close examination of his findings and judgment reveals that the purported "evenhanded treatment was illusory." Grubert v. Grubert, 20 Mass. App. Ct. at 817. Indeed, the property division fails to consider sufficiently the consequences of the asymmetric treatment and apparent double counting of assets, all to the benefit of the husband and to the detriment of the wife a. The "asymmetric buy-out requirements." Of the major assets owned by the parties at the time of the divorce (i.e., the wife's business, the husband's pension rights, and the 48 Old Mill Road...
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