Vanderpool v. Vanderpool

• Decision Date: 22 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 28365.,28365.
• Citation: 250 S.W.3d 791
• Parties: In re Marriage of Bonnie L. VANDERPOOL, Respondent, v. Larry R. VANDERPOOL, Appellant.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

250 S.W.3d 791

In re Marriage of Bonnie L. VANDERPOOL, Respondent, v. Larry R. VANDERPOOL, Appellant.

No. 28365.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division Two.

April 22, 2008.

Richard L. Schnake, Neale & Newman, L.L.P., Springfield, for Appellant.

M. Corinne Corley, Corley Law Firm, Kansas City, for Respondent.

ROBERT S. BARNEY, Presiding Judge.

Appellant Larry R. Vanderpool ("Husband") appeals the trial court's judgment dissolving his marriage to Respondent Bonnie L. Vanderpool ("Wife"). Husband raises three points of trial court error. Point One premises trial court error based on the trial court's judgment ordering Husband to pay the cost of a survivor benefit election to Wife which Husband maintains is significantly in excess of Wife's proportionate and equitable share of his pension benefits. Point Two asserts the trial court erred in granting Wife nonmodifiable maintenance for life. Point Three premises trial court error in its award to Wife of certain attorney's fees and expenses.

The record reveals the parties were married on April 22, 1983, and separated on June 24, 2003. There were no children born of the marriage.¹ At the time of trial, Husband was fifty-nine years old and had been employed since April of 1967 as a food inspector for the United States Department of Agriculture. Husband had undergone back surgery some time previously, but was still working at least forty hours per week. The record further shows Wife was fifty-three years old and working in Ohio in a temporary position as a warehouse shipping clerk. During the parties' marriage Wife had worked for a period of time as a manager for a meat packing company before she quit her job to stay home with her child. She returned to work about ten years later and worked as a file clerk and then as a secretary for a doctor.

The standard for reviewing a judgment of dissolution is the same as in any court-tried action. Rivers v. Rivers, 21 S.W.3d 117, 121 (Mo.App.2000). The decree must be affirmed unless it is unsupported by substantial evidence, it is against the weight of the evidence, or it erroneously declares or applies the law. Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 (Mo. banc 1976). "We do not retry the case, rather we accept as true the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in a light most favorable to the prevailing party and disregard contradictory evidence." McCallum v. McCallum, 128 S.W.3d 62, 65 (Mo.App.2003). Additionally, we defer to the trial court's determinations of credibility in making our review. In re Marriage of Colley, 984 S.W.2d 163, 166 (Mo.App. 1998).

In his first point relied on, Husband maintains the trial court erred by ordering him to "provide and pay for a 100 [percent] survivor annuity for [Wife]" in relation to his Civil Service Retirement System ("CSRS") pension benefits. Husband argues such an award "results in a windfall for [Wife]" and prejudices him by "costing him unnecessary monthly expense[s]. . . ." Additionally, in his second point relied on, Husband maintains the trial court abused its discretion by awarding Wife "nonmodifiable maintenance of $471 per month for life. . . ." He asserts such an award would require his estate "to pay maintenance even when [Wife] no longer needs it . . ." and there "is no evidence to support continuing the award of maintenance to [Wife] should she remarry or after [Husband] dies." In our analysis of these two points relied on, we address them together because they are interrelated.

The trial court is given broad discretion in dividing property, and we will interfere with its decision only if the division is so unduly weighted in favor of one party that it amounts to an abuse of discretion. Kirkwood v. Kirkwood, 77 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Mo.App.2002). The trial court abuses its discretion only when its ruling is "clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so arbitrary and unreasonable as to shock one's sense of justice and indicate a lack of careful consideration." In re Marriage of Holden, 81 S.W.3d 217, 225 (Mo.App.2002). "The division of property is presumed to be correct, and the party challenging the division bears the burden of overcoming the presumption." Rivers, 21 S.W.3d at 123; see also In re Marriage of Ward, 955 S.W.2d 17, 21 (Mo. App.1997).

Pursuant to section 452.330.1, the trial court in a dissolution proceeding is required to divide marital property and debts in such proportions as the court deems just after considering all relevant factors set out therein.² See Rivers, 21 S.W.3d at 122. There is no set formula concerning the weight given to the factors considered under section 452.330. Kester v. Kester, 108 S.W.3d 213, 224 (Mo.App. 2003). As already stated, in dissolving a marriage, the trial court awards each spouse his or her nonmarital property, then divides the remaining marital property and debts in a reasonable manner after consideration of all relevant factors enumerated in section 452.330. See Rivers, 21 S.W.3d at 122; Kester, 108 S.W.3d at 224.

Here, Husband's CSRS benefits and obligations are considered in part to be marital property and the marital portion is clearly subject to division by the trial court in its distribution of property. In re Marriage of Ward, 955 S.W.2d at 20; Kuchta v. Kuchta, 636 S.W.2d 663, 666 (Mo. banc 1982); Weiss v. Weiss, 702 S.W.2d 948, 952 (Mo.App.1986).

In the present matter, due to his employment as a food inspector for the federal government Husband participates in the CSRS and, thus, is ineligible for social security benefits. At the time of trial, Husband had been employed as a food inspector for thirty-eight years with twenty-two of those years being during the parties' marriage.

The record reflects that CSRS does not pay a present value to its pensioners and, instead, pays on a monthly annuity basis, but only during Husband's lifetime. Once Husband retires, Wife would be entitled to a percentage of Husband's monthly annuity benefits and not a percentage of the actual present value of Husband's retirement account. In its judgment, in dividing the marital properties of the parties, the trial court awarded Wife 28.9 percent of Husband's monthly retirement annuity benefits to be paid to him during his lifetime.

The record also reflects that Husband appears to have the option of making a "survivor benefit election" which would authorize monthly annuity payments to Wife to continue after Husband's death, when Wife's annuity payments would otherwise terminate. In order to make this election Husband would be required to pay Wife her percentage share of his annuity benefits and pay out, in the form of a reduction of his annuity benefits, the amount of $261.52 a month to pay for Wife's survivor benefits.

In its judgment, at paragraph 28, the trial court set out:

28. That [Wife] cannot meet her reasonable needs through the resources available to her, including income, income earning ability, and marital property apportioned to her. . . . Therefore, the Court orders maintenance to be paid by [Husband] to [Wife] in the amount of $471.00 per month, and, in addition, [Husband] is to pay the cost of the monthly survivor annuity [an amount of $261.52], a benefit to [Wife] based upon [Husband's] CSRS plan. Said monthly payments shall be paid commencing on the 01st day of August, 2006, and shall continue day to day thereafter for the life of [Wife] and this award shall be nonmodifiable.

(Emphasis added). We note that Husband's pension benefits are partly marital property and the trial court awarded Husband 71.1 percent of his pension benefits, comprising 50 percent of the marital portion and 100 percent of the nonmarital portion, as his share of this item of marital property. Yet, in its judgment at paragraph 28 the trial court appears to be treating as nonmodifiable maintenance that portion of Husband's monthly annuity benefits that are used to pay for Wife's "survivor's benefit." At oral arguments Wife does not contest this interpretation of paragraph 28 of the judgment. However, in determining whether maintenance should be awarded, the trial court must preliminarily "find that . . . the party seeking maintenance lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to that spouse, to provide for his or her reasonable needs; and . . . the party seeking maintenance is unable to support herself through appropriate employment." Elrod v. Elrod, 144 S.W.3d 373, 380-381 (Mo. App.2004) (emphasis added); § 452.335.1(1). It is clear, then, that the award of maintenance and the appropriate division of marital property are distinct matters for trial court determination. The division of marital property must necessarily precede the determination of whether maintenance is required, and if so, how much. See Elrod, 144 S.W.3d at 381; Coleberd v. Coleberd, 933 S.W.2d 863, 870-71 (Mo.App.1996). The trial court erred in treating Husband's survivor benefit election relating to his pension benefits, admittedly partly marital property, as a form of nonmodifiable maintenance. The trial court's award of marital and nonmarital properties is reversed and remanded so that the trial court may revisit the matter of its division of the parties' marital and nonmarital properties, particularly as it relates to the CSRS benefits. Additionally, the trial court's award of nonmodifiable maintenance is also reversed and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, because in determining the amount of maintenance the trial court must first consider its division of the parties' marital and nonmarital properties. Elrod, 144 S.W.3d at 381; Coleberd, 933 S.W.2d at 871.

In his third point relied on, Husband maintains the trial court abused its discretion by awarding attorney's fees and expenses to Wife. He asserts "the evidence shows that part of the fees and expenses were already paid and the other part was covered by the $6,303.00 greater stipulated award of mostly liquid...