Thompson v. Thompson, s. 71--241

• Decision Date: 31 August 1971
• Docket Number: Nos. 71--241,24399,s. 71--241
• Citation: 489 P.2d 1062,30 Colo.App. 57
• Parties: Venda THOMPSON, Plaintiff in Error, v. David H. THOMPSON, Defendant in Error. . I
• Court: Colorado Court of Appeals

Page 1062

489 P.2d 1062

30 Colo.App. 57

Venda THOMPSON, Plaintiff in Error, v. David H. THOMPSON, Defendant in Error.

Nos. 71--241, 24399.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. I.

Aug. 31, 1971.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 21, 1971.

Robert A. Lehman, Denver, for plaintiff in error.

John B. Kalbin, Denver, for defendant in error.

PIERCE, Judge.

This case was transferred from the Supreme Court pursuant to statute.

The appeal involves a dispute regarding the trial court's division of property following a divorce decree. The parties, appearing here by their trial court designations, will be referred to as husband and wife.

The parties had been married for over 23 years and had raised two daughters who were emancipated at the time of the divorce decree. The husband's income, derived from his occupation as a mechanic, averaged from $6,000 to $7,000 per year through most of the term of the marriage. Prior to and during the marriage, the wife, a beauty operator, owned real estate on which were located her beauty shop and some apartments where the family resided for most of the duration of the marriage. Due to the intricacies of depreciation and other variables concerning her several investments, it is difficult to determine the wife's actual income from the record. It is clear, however, that she made several prudent investments during the marriage and acquired, either jointly or in her sole name, numerous securities and an additional apartment house valued at $220,000. The parties kept individual bank accounts and each controlled his or her own funds.

After crediting the wife for all capital she had invested in the apartment house purchased after their marriage, the trial court, upon adequate evidence, determined that the parties had accumulated equities in joint and individual investments in excess of $63,000 during the marriage relationship. The husband was awarded approximately one-third of this sum and he was allowed to retain his personal effects, tools, and motor vehicle. The balance of the individual and joint property was awarded to the wife, subject to her executing a note payable over a ten-year period to the husband for his one-third interest in the equity accumulated during the marriage. The wife was also awarded her attorney's fees and nominal alimony.

The wife first contends that the court had no jurisdiction to divide any holdings of the parties other than the jointly owned property. C.R.S. 1963, 46--1--5(2), however, gives the court authority to divide all property acquired by parties during a marriage, based on the situation of the parties at the time of the decree. Therefore, the trial court had clear jurisdiction over the subject matter. Stephenson v. Stephenson, 134 Colo. 96, 299 P.2d 1095; Menor v. Menor, 154 Colo. 475, 391 P.2d 473.

The main thrust of the wife's argument, however, is that none of the equity acquired during the marriage should be awarded to the husband since he made no capital contributions to the increase. We disagree. The record indicates that the husband paid for most of the groceries, children's clothing, and medical bills during the term of the marriage. He also paid for almost all of the girls' parochial high schol tuition, provided them with automobiles, insurance on same, and paid part of a note to cover the college education of one child. In addition to these expenditures, evidence further shows that for about two years the husband lived in, managed, and performed the maintenance work on an apartment house purchased during the marriage, without compensation. He also paid for some maintenance materials...