Snyder v. Snyder

• Decision Date: 20 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. 20100021.,20100021.
• Citation: 787 N.W.2d 727,2010 ND 161
• Parties: David Edward SNYDER, Plaintiff and Appellantv.Anne Marie SNYDER, Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

787 N.W.2d 727

2010 ND 161

David Edward SNYDER, Plaintiff and Appellantv.Anne Marie SNYDER, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 20100021.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

Aug. 20, 2010.

Jerilynn Brantner Adams, Fargo, ND, for plaintiff and appellant.

James R. Brothers, Fargo, ND, for defendant and appellee.

CROTHERS, Justice.

[¶ 1] David Snyder appeals the district court's judgment of divorce requiring him to pay Anne Snyder permanent spousal support and to maintain life insurance as security for the support award. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand.

I

[¶ 2] David Snyder is 56 years old, and Anne Snyder is 51 years old. The parties married in 1976 and have two adult children together. David Snyder has worked for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (“BNSF”) for 34 years and has a net monthly income of $5,795. Anne Snyder has not been employed outside the home since 1982, but she has operated a home-based day care since the early 2000s, earning a small but unknown income. The parties' marital estate has a negative net value. Anne Snyder has monthly expenses of $4,042. David Snyder reported his monthly expenses as $5,454, but the district court declined to accept that value, citing the inclusion of expenses that would be extinguished upon divorce. Instead, the district court found David Snyder's monthly expenses to be $1,153, excluding an allowance for housing.

[¶ 3] Throughout his career at BNSF, David Snyder contributed to the company's retirement program. Under the program, three separate types of retirement benefits will be distributed: Tier I benefits, Tier II benefits and divorced spouse benefits. Tier I benefits are non-divisible and payable to David Snyder in the amount of $2,247 per month after he reaches age 60. Tier II benefits are divisible and will, under current calculations, amount to $1,400 per month after David Snyder reaches age 60. Divorced spouse benefits are payable to Anne Snyder and are currently calculated at $1,123 per month, beginning June 1, 2024.

[¶ 4] David Snyder filed for divorce in November 2008, citing irreconcilable differences. A hearing was held on September 30, 2009. David Snyder testified that his current annual gross income exceeds $110,000, but that he cannot maintain this high level of income because the physical demands of his job will force him to refuse the large amounts of overtime accounting for nearly half of his annual pay. Anne Snyder requested $2,500 a month in spousal support, acknowledging that her need for support will decrease in 15 years when her divorced spouse benefits begin.

[¶ 5] Addressing Anne Snyder's request for spousal support, the district court found David Snyder had the ability to support Anne Snyder and Anne Snyder was in need of support. The court recognized that Anne Snyder has limited post-secondary education, has no outside work experience for the previous 25 years and would likely need to again become employed. The district court also acknowledged the parties' marriage was significantly damaged by David Snyder's drinking, as well as by his verbal abuse of Anne Snyder. David Snyder was ordered to pay Anne Snyder monthly spousal support of $2,500 until June 1, 2024, at which point David Snyder's support obligation is reduced to $1,000 per month. Additionally, the district court ordered David Snyder to maintain a $250,000 life insurance policy with Anne Snyder the named beneficiary. David Snyder timely filed this appeal.

II

[¶ 6] David Snyder argues the district court erred in the amount and duration of spousal support it awarded to Anne Snyder because the court failed to consider his upcoming retirement and the conditions of his work environment. “A district court's decision on spousal support is a finding of fact that will not be set aside on appeal unless it is clearly erroneous. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if it is induced by an erroneous view of the law, if there is no evidence to support it, or if, after a review of the entire record, we are left with a definite and firm conviction a mistake has been made.” Krueger v. Krueger, 2008 ND 90, ¶ 7, 748 N.W.2d 671 (internal citations omitted).

[¶ 7] In divorce proceedings, a district court has authority to “require one party to pay spousal support to the other party for any period of time.” N.D.C.C. § 14-05-24.1. Permanent or rehabilitative support can be ordered, but an award of permanent spousal support is generally appropriate where the receiving party's age is likely to prevent adequate rehabilitation. Wold v. Wold, 2008 ND 14, ¶ 14, 744 N.W.2d 541. To establish the amount and duration of support, the district court must consider the Ruff-Fischer guidelines. Ruff v. Ruff, 78 N.D. 775, 52 N.W.2d 107 (1952); Fischer v. Fischer, 139 N.W.2d 845 (N.D.1966). These guidelines include:

“the respective ages of the parties, their earning ability, the duration of the marriage and conduct of the parties during the marriage, their station in life, the circumstances and necessities of each, their health and physical condition, their financial circumstances as shown by the property owned at the time, its value at the time, its income-producing capacity, if any, whether accumulated before or after the marriage, and such other matters as may be material.”

Sack v. Sack, 2006 ND 57, ¶ 11, 711 N.W.2d 157 (quoting Staley v. Staley, 2004 ND 195, ¶ 8, 688 N.W.2d 182). Weight must also be given to the supporting party's ability to pay and to the supported party's need for support. McDowell v. McDowell, 2001 ND 176, ¶ 13, 635 N.W.2d 139.

[¶ 8] Here, evidence supports the amount of support awarded to Anne Snyder. Although David Snyder claims he cannot maintain his current level of income because his age will prevent him from working large amounts of overtime in the future, he did not present evidence on when his income will decrease or by how much it will decrease. Without this information, evidence presented at trial indicates only that David Snyder was on track to earn over $113,000 in 2009, that Anne Snyder has little work experience and no post-secondary education, that David Snyder significantly contributed to the marital dissolution by abusing alcohol and verbally abusing Anne Snyder and that David Snyder's high income and low living expenses permit his contribution towards Anne Snyder's needed support. The district court did not err in establishing the amount of spousal support awarded to Anne Snyder.

[¶ 9] David Snyder next argues the district court erroneously established the duration of spousal support because the order requires him to maintain his overtime-heavy work schedule until he is 71 years old and because the scheduled reduction in 2024 is based on Anne Snyder's retirement, not his own. A significant problem with David Snyder's request to reduce his support obligation upon his retirement is the uncertainty surrounding that event. It is unknown when David Snyder will retire from BNSF and if he will have any other sources of income after retirement. The record reflects David Snyder's BNSF retirement benefit calculations were already stale at the time of trial, lending even more uncertainty to his speculated future income. In similar cases, this Court has upheld permanent awards of spousal support despite the obligor's approaching retirement because the exact dates of retirement and the resulting income reductions following retirement were unknown. See, e.g., Sommer v. Sommer, 2001 ND 191, ¶ 21, 636 N.W.2d 423. In Sommer, we held the obligor's proper course of action upon retirement was to move for modification of the support obligation, citing the significant change of circumstances caused by the retirement. Id. at ¶ 18. The same logic applies here.

[¶ 10] David Snyder argues it is inappropriate to decline modifying his support obligation until his retirement because requiring him to seek modification at a later date puts him at risk of not being able to establish a material change in circumstances since his retirement was contemplated at trial. For support, David Snyder asserts our decision in Ebach v. Ebach, 2008 ND 187, ¶ 10, 757 N.W.2d 34, stands for the proposition that “[a] change contemplated at the time of the initial decree” can never constitute a material change of circumstances in the future. David Snyder interprets Ebach too narrowly. In Ebach, the husband was ordered to provide his ex-wife with spousal support and the district court, acknowledging the husband's approaching retirement, indicated such retirement would constitute a material change of circumstances allowing review of the support obligation at that time. Id. at ¶ 12. When the husband approached the district court requesting termination of his support obligation in light of his approaching, and early, retirement, the district court found there had not been a material change in circumstances. Id. at ¶¶ 5-6. We reversed and remanded to the district court, concluding the lack of findings prevented us from adequately reviewing the district court's denial. Id. at ¶¶ 16-17.

[¶ 11] David Snyder also cites Walker v. Walker, 2002 ND 187, ¶ 20, 653 N.W.2d 722, where we outlined our preference “that a trial court spell out preordained contingency limits on spousal support in a divorce decree rather than invite further litigation by unconditionally decreeing support for life.” While the general premise of Walker holds true, such preordained contingencies typically trigger the termination of spousal support, not its reduction. See, e.g. Walker, at ¶ 5 (eliminating husbands support obligation at his retirement or 65th birthday); Baker v. Baker, 1997 ND 135, ¶ 5, 566 N.W.2d 806 (eliminating wife's support obligation if ex-husband remarried or cohabitated in an informal marital relationship). In cases such as this, where a contingency triggers reduction of a support obligation rather than its termination, the necessarily speculative nature of guessing when the event will occur, what the parties' economic circumstances will...