Tarbuck v. Jaeckel

• Decision Date: 30 May 2000
• Citation: 2000 ME 105,752 A.2d 176
• Parties: Richard H. TARBUCK v. Evelyn P. JAECKEL.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

752 A.2d 176

2000 ME 105

Richard H. TARBUCK v. Evelyn P. JAECKEL.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Submitted on Briefs February 8, 2000.

Decided May 30, 2000.

David P. Lipman, Tracie L. Adamson, Lipman & Katz, P.A., Augusta, for plaintiff.

Ellyn C. Ballou, South Freeport, Francis M. Jackson, Jackson & MacNichol, Portland, for defendant.

Before WATHEN, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, SAUFLEY, ALEXANDER, and CALKINS, JJ.

DANA, J.

[¶ 1] Evelyn Jaeckel appeals from the judgment of the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Atwood, J.) affirming the judgment of the District Court (Augusta, Griffiths, J.) awarding interest on a child support arrearage it had determined that Jaeckel incurred pursuant to a divorce decree. The award of interest followed a prior remand by the Superior Court (Marden, J.). Jaeckel argues on appeal that the District Court erred when it dismissed her motion for relief from judgment and granted the motion of Jaeckel's ex-husband, Richard Tarbuck, for enforcement of the parties' divorce decree. She also argues that the court erred when it failed to offset its judgment with amounts Jaeckel claims are owed to her. Finally, Jaeckel argues that the District Court properly waived interest in its initial judgment and the Superior Court's remand for an award of interest was error. Although we affirm the District Court's dismissal of Jaeckel's motion for relief from judgment and its order enforcing the parties' divorce decree, including its determination of Jaeckel's child support arrearage, we vacate the award of interest and modify the judgment to reinstate the District Court's initial waiver of interest.

I. FACTS

[¶ 2] Richard Tarbuck and Evelyn Jaeckel were married in 1965. They had two children together, Brian in 1970 and Leigh in 1972. Tarbuck and Jaeckel divorced in 1981. Their settlement agreement was incorporated into the divorce decree by the District Court.

[¶ 3] The settlement agreement provided for custody of the children, child support and a division of the parties' property. Pursuant to the agreement, Jaeckel would have custody of the children and would receive twenty dollars per week, per child from Tarbuck. If the children resided with Tarbuck, Jaeckel would pay the same amount per week, per child to him. The agreement also divided the parties' property between them as follows: Tarbuck was granted the marital residence in Pittston along with the responsibility for the mortgage. Jaeckel would retain a residence in Huntington, Massachusetts that she had inherited from her family. Three other properties held by the couple, an additional property in Pittston, one in Augusta and one in North Hampton, New Hampshire, would continue to be held jointly. The income from these properties would be shared and either party could initiate the sale of one of the properties by giving ninety days' notice to the other. When one party initiated a sale, the other party would have the right of first refusal to the purchase of the property.

[¶ 4] Shortly after the parties' divorce, Brian moved in with Tarbuck. Leigh continued to live with Jaeckel. As a result, neither party paid the other any child support. In the fall of 1981, Jaeckel moved to the North Hampton residence with Leigh by mutual agreement with Tarbuck. Tarbuck and Jaeckel disagree, however, over the terms of the arrangement.

[¶ 5] Jaeckel contends that she and Tarbuck agreed that she would move into the house in North Hampton and take over the mortgage payments. That property would belong to her in exchange for Tarbuck taking over financial responsibility for the Augusta and Pittston properties, which he would then own. They did not exchange any form of conveyance of any of the properties, however. Tarbuck maintains that he and Jaeckel agreed that she would live in the North Hampton house and be responsible for its expenses while he would take care of the other two properties, but they did not agree that they would split the actual ownership of the properties. He explained that this arrangement was to facilitate visitation for both parents and cut down on travel time.

[¶ 6] In March 1983, Leigh also moved in with Tarbuck. Tarbuck sought child support payments from Jaeckel, including initiating an action through the State seeking to enforce the parties' divorce decree that provided for the support. He did not pursue the enforcement action, however. The parties eventually sold one of the jointly held properties in July 1984. Tarbuck kept the entire proceeds from the sale, which amounted to $7377. He testified that Jaeckel allowed him to keep the proceeds because he was struggling financially and characterized it as a loan. Jaeckel testified that Tarbuck kept the proceeds because of their prior arrangement and also noted that she did not intend that he keep the proceeds in lieu of child support.

[¶ 7] In the fall of 1988, Tarbuck attempted to reinstate a child support enforcement action through the State, but again, it was not pursued. In October 1989, Tarbuck sent Jaeckel a letter indicating that he wished to sell the remaining two properties. He also informed her that she had a substantial child support arrearage. Having received no response, Tarbuck sent a listing agreement for the Pittston property seeking Jaeckel's signature. She refused to sign and the parties were unable to resolve the disagreement. In the spring of 1989, Jaeckel sent a letter to Tarbuck offering to convey the Pittston property to him in exchange for the North Hampton property. Tarbuck did not accept this offer. [¶ 8] Tarbuck again sought Jaeckel's cooperation in selling the Pittston and North Hampton properties in 1994. When she refused, he filed a motion for child support arrearage that also sought enforcement of the property division provision of the parties' divorce decree. Jaeckel opposed the motion and sought relief from the judgment of divorce pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5) and (6).

[¶ 9] Following a hearing on the matter, the District Court dismissed Jaeckel's motion for relief from judgment as untimely and made an alternate finding that she was not entitled to relief on the merits. The court also determined that Tarbuck had not waived his right to child support and determined the amount of arrearage to be $9750. The court did not award interest on the arrearage, however, as Tarbuck had requested. The court did make a finding of contempt on the part of Jaeckel, though, determining that she had a past ability to meet her child support obligations. Finally, the court ordered the sale of the two remaining jointly held properties. The court ordered that the proceeds from the sale be divided equally, finding that Jaeckel had failed to establish that any increase to the fair market value of the North Hampton property was due to improvements made by her.

[¶ 10] In response to a motion by Jaeckel for additional findings of fact, the court found explicitly that Tarbuck and Jaeckel had not reached an agreement on the transfer of ownership of the properties the couple held jointly following the divorce. The court also found that the expenditures made by Jaeckel on the North Hampton house were attributable to maintenance of the residence.

[¶ 11] Jaeckel appealed to the Superior Court and Tarbuck cross-appealed. The Superior Court vacated the finding of contempt and remanded for additional findings of fact on the issue. The court also remanded to the District Court for an award of post-judgment interest on the child support arrearage, noting that the statute governing post-judgment interest mandated its award. Because Tarbuck withdrew his request for a finding of contempt, however, the District Court merely awarded post-judgment interest on the arrearage. Jaeckel again appealed to the Superior Court. The Superior Court determined that Jaeckel had waived the issue of post-judgment interest before the District Court and, because it had addressed the other issues raised by Jaeckel in its prior decision, denied her appeal. She then appealed to this Court.

II. THE MERITS OF THE DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT

[¶ 12] When the Superior Court acts as an intermediate appellate court, we review the decision of the District Court directly. See Beck v. Beck, 1999 ME 110, ¶ 6, 733 A.2d 981, 983. Jaeckel argues that the District Court erred by dismissing her motion for relief from judgment and by enforcing the property division in the divorce decree despite her argument of promissory estoppel.¹

[¶ 13] Rule 60(b)(5) and (6) of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, governing motions for relief from judgment, provides:

On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a party or the party's legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons; ... (5) the judgment has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer equitable that the judgment should have prospective application; or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.

Rule 60(b) also provides that motions brought pursuant to subsections (5) and (6) should be brought "within a reasonable time." M.R. Civ. P. 60(b). We review a denial of a motion for relief from judgment for an abuse of discretion. See Hamill v. Liberty, 1999 ME 32, ¶ 4, 724 A.2d 616, 618. "When the trial court has correctly understood the facts and the law relevant to its analysis, we will defer to its ability to give weight to the appropriate factors under the law, and will find an abuse of discretion only where the court made a `serious mistake' in weighing those factors." Id. (citing West Point-Pepperell, Inc. v. State Tax Assessor, 1997 ME 58, ¶ 7, 691 A.2d 1211, 1213).

[¶ 14] Jaeckel's motion for relief from judgment came fourteen years after the divorce decree was filed and six and one half years after she first became aware that there was a dispute regarding the...