Wansing v. Wansing

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Robert S. Barney
• Citation: Wansing v. Wansing, 277 S.W.3d 760 (Mo. App. 2009)
• Decision Date: 15 January 2009
• Docket Number: No. SD 29009.,SD 29009.
• Parties: Steven WANSING, Appellant, v. Jeanette M. WANSING, Respondent.

277 S.W.3d 760

Steven WANSING, Appellant, v. Jeanette M. WANSING, Respondent.

No. SD 29009.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Division One.

January 15, 2009.

Motion for Rehearing or Transfer Denied February 2, 2009.

Application for Transfer Denied February 24, 2009.

James R. Sharp, Springfield, for Appellant.

Stephen P. Seigel, Springfield, for Respondent.

ROBERT S. BARNEY, Judge.

Appellant Steven Wansing ("Husband") appeals the "Findings and Recommendations for Judgment and Decree of Dissolution of Marriage" ("the Judgment") entered by the Commissioner and adopted by the trial court which dissolved his marriage to Jeanette M. Wansing ("Wife").¹ Husband asserts two points of trial court error. We affirm the Judgment of the trial court.

The record reveals that the parties in this case were married on February 5, 1977, and had two emancipated children at the time of their divorce. Wife, who was fifty-five years old at the time of trial, was a stay-at-home mother by agreement of the parties during the majority of their marriage. She had a high school education, but at one point attended airline school, real estate school, took some college classes, and authored a book. Wife worked at the time of trial for a temporary agency as an office assistant and had been earning between $14.00 per hour and $17.00 per hour. Husband, who was fifty-seven years old at the time of trial, had a bachelor's degree in accounting and was employed as president of a credit union. He testified that he made $30.48 an hour plus benefits and he worked forty hours a week.

At the beginning of their marriage, the parties resided in Kansas City, Missouri, but moved to Florissant, Missouri, in 1988. In April of 1998, Husband moved to Springfield, Missouri, to take a position as president of a credit union. At that time, the parties decided Wife would remain in Florissant because their son would not graduate from high school until the spring of 1998. During that time period, Husband returned to Florissant at least once a month and Wife visited Springfield to see Husband.² While Husband was living in Springfield he continued to support Wife as he had done when the parties resided together in Florissant.

After the parties' son graduated from high school in the spring of 1998, the parties decided Wife would remain in Florissant to finish out her term on the local school board, which expired in the summer of 2000. She testified that she resigned from the school board in January of 2000 and had intended to move to Springfield to be with Husband; however, when Wife discussed moving to Springfield, Husband told her she should wait until their son, who was attending Missouri State University and living with Husband, graduated from college in 2002. Husband also told Wife that he might retire soon and return to Florissant so she should stay there and maintain the marital home.

At some point in time in 2002, Wife began to suspect Husband was being unfaithful based on, as she described it, several "scandalous" events. Husband denied that he was cheating on her and asserted he was just trying to "help out" a young woman named Lee Higgs ("Ms. Higgs"), who had a lot of problems, by allowing her to stay at his home temporarily.

Thereafter, the parties continued their "commuter marriage" arrangement as Wife termed it.³ They took a trip together to the Bahamas in 2003 to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and even purchased "a timeshare packet" at that time.⁴ According to Wife, in November of 2003 she discovered Ms. Higgs was residing with Husband in Springfield. She confronted Husband at that time and Husband admitted Ms. Higgs had been living at his home since July of that year along with her son. Wife testified at trial she believed Appellant had an ongoing sexual relationship with Ms. Higgs from 2003 until the time of trial. She stated Husband told her "at first, [Ms. Higgs] was a renter, and then things changed."

In 2004, the parties took a trip to Mexico together although they slept in separate rooms. After returning from Mexico, Wife decided that instead of moving to Springfield she would remain in Florissant to campaign for State Representative, an election she ultimately lost.

Husband filed for dissolution of their marriage in December of 2005. Husband continued to provide Wife with approximately $1,000.00 per month following the filing of the dissolution of marriage petition and continued to make the house payment on the marital home. Even though their divorce was pending, Wife moved to Springfield in January of 2006 and lived with Husband in the parties' home in Springfield until Husband "threw [her] out" in March of 2006. She stated that she and Husband slept in the same bed during that time and that Ms. Higgs was also residing at the house. After Husband changed the locks on the Springfield house in March of 2006, Wife returned to their home in Florissant.

In June of 2006 Husband stopped providing Wife with money for living expenses and began paying her but $150.00 a month per court order in addition to making the monthly house payment. She stated that at that time she was unemployed and was unable to afford groceries or pay her bills. She related she "went to the food line" for groceries, her family helped her, she took a job with a temporary agency, and she exhausted her savings in an effort to make ends meet. She stated that during that time she often charged living expenses such as car repairs, medical bills and groceries to the parties' joint credit card until Husband cancelled the credit card in December of 2006 without her knowledge. Unable to pay her bills, Wife moved in with her parents for several months until she was able to get another temporary job in February of 2006, a position she held at the time of trial.

Wife also testified she was in ill health. She related she survived pancreatic cancer and continues to have difficulties with her pancreas; she was on medicine for depression and anxiety; and she had been diagnosed with "Phase III Adrenal Burnout due to continued stress." Wife also related that the parties' home in Florissant, where she resides, is in need of major repairs and she did not have the money to make the repairs. She related she was forced to get a hotel room to be in Springfield for three days for the trial in this matter, but that when she has previously appeared for court in Greene County she spent the night in her vehicle to save money.

Husband admitted at trial that Ms. Higgs, who is thirty-three or thirty-four years old, and her six-year-old son reside in his home in Springfield. Husband testified he had never had a sexual relationship with Ms. Higgs, and that she had been living with him continuously for the past three years. He stated she lived with him originally for a period of six months until she married and moved out. When she divorced about eighteen months later, she needed a place to stay; she moved back in with Husband; and has been at his home since that time. He stated she is physically and mentally unwell, suffers from anxiety attacks, is agoraphobic, and "has serious problems;" accordingly, the location of his home was "a big benefit" because it is "close to the hospital." Husband also related that Ms. Higgs, who is not employed, is supposed to pay him rent, but she had never given him any money. He stated he paid for food, prescriptions, personal items, transportation and other things for both Ms. Higgs and her son. Husband admitted he claimed her son as a dependent on his tax returns for the last several years but insisted he was not her boyfriend and he did not hold himself out to others as her boyfriend. He stated Ms. Higgs "still sees a couple of boyfriends . . ." and had men over to the house occasionally. Also, he stated he charged a trip to Hawaii for Ms. Higgs, her son, and a friend to his credit card and she was supposed to pay him back; however, she had yet to make a payment. Additionally, he testified he loaned Ms. Higgs $5,500.00 in 2002 which she also had not paid back.

Husband stated that from 1998 until June of 2006 he provided Wife with living expenses ranging from $500.00 to $2,500.00 per month based on her needs in addition to making the house payment in Florissant and providing her with vehicle and health insurance. Husband admitted that he stopped supporting Wife in June of 2006 and stopped making contributions to his 401(k) plan, yet continued to support Ms. Higgs and her son in addition to providing some support to his own brother, who also resides with him. Husband also testified he recently purchased an $8,000.00 touring motorcycle and had taken several motorcycle trips.

The Judgment set out that Wife's annual salary is approximately $29,120.04; Husband's annual salary is $63,398.40; it valued the marital home in Florissant at $162,000.00; and it valued the home in Springfield at $80,000.00. The judgment also recited that while Wife was receiving maintenance from Husband in the amount of $150.00 per month, she no longer needed maintenance due to her earning capacity and the distribution of property she was to receive.

In dividing the parties' marital property, the trial court awarded Wife the marital home in Florissant; property in Vienna, Missouri, valued at $7,000.00; the VIVA Vacation Club membership valued at $9,800.00; the Oppenheimer IRA valued at $98,642.99; the Duke Energy IRA valued at $28,582.24; her 1997 Oldsmobile Aurora valued at $3,335.00; a Vantage Credit savings account valued at $5.01 and a savings account at the same bank with no stated value; an Alliance Credit Union Savings Account valued at $93.54; a Neighbors Credit Union Savings Account valued at $404.72; a United Fidelity Life Insurance Company policy with no stated value; and marital furniture and other personal marital property in her possession valued at $2,745.00.

The trial court awarded Husband the home in Springfield; the property interest in ...