Tureman v. Tureman, 80-121
| Decision Date | 16 December 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-121,80-121 |
| Citation | 190 Mont. 267,37 St.Rep. 1922,620 P.2d 1200 |
| Parties | Lin TUREMAN, Petitioner and Respondent, v. Sally TUREMAN, Appellant and Respondent. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Morrow, Sedivy, Olson & Scully, Bozeman, for appellant and respondent.
Larry D. Whitman, West Yellowstone, for petitioner and respondent.
Sally Tureman, the wife of Lin Tureman, appeals from the portion of a marriage dissolution decree entered by the Gallatin County District Court determining that she was not entitled to a share of the property accumulated by the husband since the parties' separation eight years earlier. She also appeals from the trial court's decision that she was not entitled to retroactive child support payments for the previous eight years. We affirm the judgment.
The focal point of the wife's contentions is two agreements entered into by the parties when they separated. One of these agreements gave custody of the parties child to the wife and required the husband to pay $75 per month in child support. The other agreement was a buy-out agreement where the husband would pay $22,400 to the wife for her share of the parties' major asset, a bar and restaurant in West Yellowstone. The wife contends the second agreement was not a property settlement agreement and should not have been recognized as such by the trial court. She further contends both agreements are unconscionable, and were entered into by means of fraud, duress and undue influence and are thus void. She requests one-half of the estate accumulated by the husband since the separation and asks that she be given back child support of $200 per month.
The parties entered into a common law marriage around 1957. There was one child born to the marriage, the child has since turned 18, joined the military and is financially independent. During the marriage, the couple earned a living through various means including gambling and dealing cards. In 1968, they borrowed money to acquire a liquor license and take a lease on a bar. Shortly afterwards, they added a restaurant. In 1970, the parties separated permanently.
A contract dated April 15, 1970 was signed whereby the wife agreed to sell her interest in the bar-restaurant to the husband. The business was given a net value of $44,800. The husband agreed to pay the wife one-half of that amount in cash installments over the next four years at which time the wife would sign over to him her interest in the liquor license. He also agreed to assume responsibility for $50,000 in debts on the bar-restaurant and $10,000 in delinquent lease payments. By a second agreement also dated April 15, 1970, the wife assumed custody of the child and the husband agreed to pay the wife $75 per month for child support.
A Bozeman attorney assisted in preparing these agreements. Both parties vigorously assert that he was contacted first by the other party, and then acted solely on behalf of that party. The evidence does not support either side, however. The attorney was available and testified at trial. Relying mostly on his own records, he testified that he had represented the wife on previous matters, but in this case, he was not sure which party had contacted him first. He further testified that both parties had been part of the bargaining process, and the agreement had been rewritten a couple of times changing terms beneficial to both parties.
The trial court found that the husband did pay the $22,400 to the wife, and that in 1974, she signed over her interest in the liquor license to him. Since the time of separation in 1970, the wife has invested the money in a cafe, and later, a bar of her own. By the time of trial, however, she had either lost or given it all away. She was employed at several different jobs following the separation. She was a truck driver, a waitress, and an assistant manager of a pizza parlor earning $1,000 per month. She was apparently unable to save any of her earnings. At the time of dissolution, she claimed only $1,600 worth of assets.
The husband, on the other hand, was more successful financially. He stayed in West Yellowstone and continued to operate the bar and restaurant. By the time of the dissolution, he had paid off most of his debts, had invested in a commercial fishing boat, and was making taxable income of $15,000 to $18,000 per year. The trial court found his assets to be worth $187,000.
The trial court found the wife was not entitled to a share of these assets. It found that the property had been equally divided when the parties separated and that the husband was entitled to all the property he had accumulated since that time. The wife was not forgotten, though. The trial court found that by reason of her background in the food and restaurant business, she would be able to make a living for herself with additional training as a chef. The trial court awarded her $600 per month while attending school for two years to become a chef. In addition to awarding maintenance, the...
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Marriage of Loegering, In re
...precedent involving valuation of marital assets at the time of separation rather than the time of dissolution. In Tureman v. Tureman (Mont.1980), 620 P.2d 1200, 37 St.Rep. 1922, the parties were separated and the final dissolution decree resulted eight years later. An agreement was negotiat......
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Stockton v. Stockton
...of Lorenzi, (1980) 84 Ill.App.3d 427, 39 Ill.Dec. 754, 405 N.E.2d 507, relying upon Ill.Rev.Stat.1977, ch. 40, par. 502; Tureman v. Tureman, (1980) Mont., 620 P.2d 1200, relying upon § 40-4-201 M.C.A. Morgan v. Morgan, (1981) Tex.App., 622 S.W.2d 447, 450, holds a property settlement agreem......