Watt v. Watt, 13209

• Decision Date: 18 November 1981
• Docket Number: No. 13209,13209
• Parties: James F. WATT, Jr., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Barbara E. WATT, Defendant and Appellee.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

Page 707

312 N.W.2d 707

James F. WATT, Jr., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Barbara E. WATT, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 13209.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued March 19, 1981.

Decided Nov. 18, 1981.

Clyde R. Calhoon of Calhoon & Kratochvil, Brookings, for plaintiff and appellant.

M. E. McCann of McCann, Martin & Mickelson, P. C., Brookings, for defendant and appellee.

WOLLMAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant appeals from a judgment and decree of divorce awarded to appellee. The decree awarded custody of the parties' three minor children to appellee, granted appellant visitation rights, directed appellant to pay child support, and awarded appellee one-half of the net equity of the assets held by the parties during their marriage, to be paid by appellant in ten annual installments at eight percent interest per year, with interest commencing from the date of the trial. The trial court also imposed a lien upon the real property awarded to appellant for any unpaid portions of the property division and any unpaid child support. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

The parties were married in December 1969. Neither party brought property into the marriage. At the time of their marriage appellant was attending vocational school studying mechanics; appellee was working as a waitress. After completing his training appellant was employed until 1974, when he purchased a farm and took up farming as a full-time pursuit. Appellee was also employed at various times during the marriage.

The circumstances contributing to the breakdown of the marriage were compounded by the family's poor economic situation. The house on the farm was in a poor state of repair when appellant moved his family there and, for the most part, it remained that way throughout the marriage.

Appellee left home for short periods on two occasions during the marriage, and in November 1979 she left permanently, moving to North Dakota to be near her parents. Appellee gave as her reasons for leaving her dissatisfaction with the marginal economic situation the family was forced to maintain due to appellant's occupation, together with her perceived lack of hope that conditions would improve. She is currently employed on a full-time basis.

Appellant alleged in his complaint for divorce that appellee's conduct had caused him mental suffering and constituted extreme cruelty. Appellee counterclaimed and was awarded the divorce on grounds of extreme mental cruelty. Under the trial court's pretrial order, appellant retains custody of the children during the pendency of this action.

The first issue is whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant appellant a divorce on the basis of appellee's admission during trial that she had committed adultery on one occasion after she left the family home for good. Adultery constitutes a ground for divorce, SDCL 25-4-2(1), and in the light of appellee's admitted adulterous The circuit court has a duty to make findings of fact upon every issue raised by the pleadings and its failure to do so is reversible error if a substantial right has been prejudiced. Grady v. Commers Interiors, Inc., 268 N.W.2d 823 (S.D.1978); Stugelmayer v. Ulmer, 260 N.W.2d 236 (S.D.1977). To determine whether a substantial right has been prejudiced, this court must decide if sufficient evidence exists in the record on which a finding in favor of the party alleging reversible error can be made.

act the trial court should have made a finding of adultery and should have granted appellant a divorce on this ground. As we recently held in Sioux Valley Hospital Ass'n v. Jones County, 309 N.W.2d 835 (S.D.1981),

Although appellant did not allege adultery in his complaint, he did submit findings and conclusions that adequately presented the matter of his wife's adultery to the trial court. SDCL 15-6-52(a) states:

Any action or decision of the court in making or modifying findings of fact or conclusions of law shall be deemed excepted to, but the failure of the court to make a finding or conclusion on a material issue shall not be deemed excepted to unless such finding or conclusion has been proposed to or requested from the court.

Since appellant raised the issue of his wife's adultery, the court erred by not also granting appellant a divorce on this ground.

We have considered appellant's contention that the trial court erred in granting appellee a divorce on her counterclaim and conclude that the evidence was sufficient to justify the trial court's action in the light of the principles set forth in Pochop v. Pochop, 89 S.D. 466, 233 N.W.2d 806 (1975). Cf. Palmer v. Palmer, 281 N.W.2d 263 (S.D.1979). Accordingly, we hold that the evidence supports the grant of a decree of divorce to both parties and that it was error to grant the divorce to appellee alone.

We next consider the award of custody of the three children to appellee. As we said in Isaak v. Isaak, 278 N.W.2d 445 (S.D.1979), "The trial court has broad discretion in awarding custody of minor children, and we will not interfere with the exercise of such discretion unless the record presents a clear case of abuse of discretion." 278 N.W.2d at 446. See also Engels v. Engels, 297 N.W.2d 489 (S.D.1980); Haskell v. Haskell, 279 N.W.2d 903 (S.D.1979); Spaulding v. Spaulding, 278 N.W.2d 639 (S.D.1979).

In deciding the issue of child custody the trial court must give paramount consideration to the best interests of the children. SDCL 30-27-19; Isaak v. Isaak, supra. Appellant points out that during the time he has had temporary custody of the children he, with the help of his parents, has provided a good home environment, an arrangement that would continue if he were awarded permanent custody. Appellant argues that appellee is unfit to have custody of the children because in his opinion she suffered from emotional problems during the marriage. As examples of appellee's emotional problems, appellant mentions her temper outbursts, her perceived inability to simultaneously keep a tidy house and mind three young boys, her temporary absences from the home, her ultimate flight to North Dakota, and the single adulterous act committed after she left home.

Appellee testified that since her husband's occupation would often keep him out until late at night and allowed him to be home only on Sundays, she was the parent who cared for the children. She did the cooking, cleaning, gardening, canning, and freezing. She sewed clothes for the children, washed the clothes, and attended to the children's daily needs. Appellee explained that her temper outbursts and absences from the home provided necessary releases from the tension and emotional pressures resulting from the isolation, economic oppression, and frustrations she experienced after moving to the dilapidated farm home.

In reviewing a trial court's findings, we must give due regard to the opportunity of the trial court to judge the credibility of the witnesses and to weigh their testimony. The court's findings will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous.

SDCL 15-6-52(a); In re Estate of Hobelsberger, 85 S.D. 282, 181 N.W.2d 455 (1970). Moreover, in reviewing findings of fact, we accept that version of the evidence, together with any reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom, that is favorable to the trial court's determination. Isaak v. Isaak, supra; Schutterle v. Schutterle, 260 N.W.2d 341 (S.D.1977); Larson v. Syverson, 84 S.D. 31, 166 N.W.2d 424 (1969); Beatty v. Depue, 78 S.D. 395, 103 N.W.2d 187 (1960). The trial court found that during the marriage appellee undertook the bulk of the child care responsibilities. It found that during the marriage appellee was a fit and proper person to have custody of the children, and it found that it would be in the best interests of the children that they be permanently placed in appellee's custody.

After a review of the record we cannot say that the trial court clearly abused its discretion in awarding custody to appellee. The trial court could reasonably have inferred from the evidence that appellee's actions were explainable, given the testimony that she felt overwhelmed by the cycle of poverty into which the family seemed locked and by the apparent inability or unwillingness of appellant to take even the most rudimentary action to improve the living conditions in and around their home. ^* Further, the trial court must have concluded that appellant did not meet his burden of showing that appellee's conduct had a harmful effect on the children. Kester v. Kester, 257 N.W.2d 731 (S.D.1977); Isaak v. Isaak, supra.

The next issue is whether the award to appellee of one-half of the net equity of the assets of the parties was equitable. In order to make an equitable property division, the trial court must first consider the factors set out in Price v. Price, 278 N.W.2d 455 (S.D.1979):

the duration of the marriage, value of the property, the ages of the parties, the state of health of the parties, the competency to earn a living, the contribution of each party to the accumulation of the property, and the income-producing capacity of the parties' assets.

278 N.W.2d at 457.

Appellant argues that the property settlement is inequitable because the trial court failed to consider that the income produced by the parties' assets is minimal. The major part of these assets consists of approximately 160 acres of farm land. There is no reliable evidence to indicate the amount of income that this real estate generates. The evidence of appellant's total income is unclear, although all parties agree that the income is very small. Nevertheless, the trial court is not precluded from considering the income-producing capacity of the property. Stenberg v. Stenberg, 90 S.D. 229, 240 N.W.2d 100 (1976).

Moreover, appellant does not address the several other factors the trial court must consider in making an equitable distribution. In this case the parties had been married nearly eleven years. They were each...