Zander v. Zander

• Decision Date: 22 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. A05-2094.,A05-2094.
• Citation: 720 N.W.2d 360
• Parties: In re the Marriage of Jeremy James ZANDER, petitioner, Respondent, v. Melinda Alice ZANDER, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

720 N.W.2d 360

In re the Marriage of Jeremy James ZANDER, petitioner, Respondent, v. Melinda Alice ZANDER, Appellant.

No. A05-2094.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

August 22, 2006.

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Anne Heimkes Tuttle, Tuttle & Bergeson, Shakopee, MN, for respondent.

Kevin J. Wetherille, Jaspers, Moriarty & Walburg, P.A., Shakopee, MN, for appellant.

Considered and decided by RANDALL, Presiding Judge; WILLIS, Judge; and MINGE, Judge.

OPINION

WILLIS, Judge.

In this appeal from a dissolution judgment, appellant wife argues that the district court abused its discretion by denying her motion for amended findings or alternatively a new trial because (1) respondent husband's change of residence after the dissolution trial is a sufficient basis for amended findings or a new trial; (2) the district court abused its discretion by awarding the parties joint legal and physical custody of their children when the record shows that the parties are unable to communicate or cooperate; and (3) the district court erred by concluding that the per capita payments appellant wife received from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community during the parties' marriage were marital property. Because the record supports the district court's findings and we agree with the district court's legal conclusions, we affirm.

FACTS

Appellant Melinda Alice Zander (wife) and respondent Jeremy James Zander (husband) have known each other since grade school, began dating in 1999, and were married in September 2001. Wife has two children, currently ages 15 and 12, from two previous relationships. Husband adopted both children in November 2001. During the marriage, husband was voluntarily unemployed, and wife did not work but received monthly per capita payments from the Shakopee Mdewakanton (Dakota) Sioux Community (Mdewakanton Community). The parties separated in January 2004. After the separation, husband lived in a trailer home owned by wife on the Mdewakanton reservation, and wife lived in Jordan, Minnesota.

In January 2004, husband petitioned for dissolution. In February 2004, the district court issued a temporary order granting the parties joint legal custody and wife sole physical custody of the children, subject to husband's parenting time. The district court conducted a trial on the dissolution from March 15 to 18, 2005, during which the court heard testimony from 13 witnesses, met in camera with the parties' children, and received 43 exhibits. In June 2005, the district court issued its dissolution judgment, granting the parties joint legal and physical custody and ordering a division of the parties' marital property. In July 2005, wife moved for amended findings or, in the alternative, a new trial. The district court denied the motion, and wife's appeal follows.

ISSUE

Did the district court abuse its discretion by denying wife's motion for amended findings or a new trial?

ANALYSIS

Wife appeals from both the dissolution judgment and the district court's order denying her motion to amend its findings or, in the alternative, for a new trial. A motion to amend findings must be based on the files, exhibits, and minutes of the court, not on evidence that is not a part of the record. Otte v. Otte, 368 N.W.2d 293, 299 (Minn.App.1985) (applying Minn. R. Civ. P. 52.02). When considering a motion for amended findings, a district court "must apply the evidence as submitted during the trial of the case" and "may neither go outside the record, nor consider new evidence." Rathbun v. W.T. Grant Co., 300 Minn. 223, 238, 219 N.W.2d 641, 651 (1974). This court reviews denials of such motions under an abuse-of-discretion standard. See Lewis v. Lewis, 572 N.W.2d 313, 315 (Minn.App.1997) (noting that the purpose of a motion to amend findings is to permit the district court to review its own exercise of discretion), review denied (Minn. Feb. 19, 1998).

A district court's findings "shall not be set aside unless clearly erroneous, and due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the [district] court to judge the credibility of the witnesses." Minn. R. Civ. P. 52.01. A finding is "clearly erroneous" when this court has "the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made." Vangsness v. Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d 468, 472 (Minn.App.2000) (quotation omitted). When determining whether findings are clearly erroneous, this court views the record in the light most favorable to the district court's findings. Id.

A party may move for a new trial on the grounds of: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence; (3) fraud; (4) a void judgment and decree or order; or (5) satisfaction, release, or discharge of the judgment. Minn.Stat. § 518.145, subd. 2 (2004). This court reviews a district court's decision whether to order a new trial for an abuse of discretion. Halla Nursery, Inc. v. Baumann-Furrie & Co., 454 N.W.2d 905, 910 (Minn.1990).

I.

Wife argues that the district court's findings regarding husband's residence are clearly erroneous and that the district court's failure to amend its findings was an abuse of discretion. According to wife, when the district court made its custody determination, it placed "special emphasis" on the fact that husband resided on the reservation. Wife claims that husband did not intend to continue living on the reservation despite his testimony to the contrary and argues that her claim is supported by the fact that husband left the reservation residence shortly after the dissolution trial and began to live in a home that was not on the reservation.

In its order denying wife's motion, the district court concluded that because wife's allegations "concern post-trial conduct," they "cannot be a basis for amended findings." The district court found that, because husband "did not promise to live forever in the trailer on the reservation, nor did the Court order or expect him to do so," there was "no evidence that [husband] misrepresented his intentions to the Court so as to constitute fraud." The district court also concluded that husband's "post-trial conduct" was not newly discovered evidence because it was not evidence that existed at the time of the trial.

The record shows that husband lived on the reservation at the time of the dissolution trial. The fact that husband moved after the dissolution trial, even before the district court issued its judgment, is evidence outside the trial record and therefore could not be considered by the district court in determining whether to amend its findings. The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying wife's motion to amend its findings relating to husband's residence.

Also, the fact that husband moved from the reservation after the dissolution trial does not show that husband intended to deceive the district court by testifying that he intended to stay on the reservation. The record shows that husband testified that he hoped to move to a larger house in the future and that he did not represent that such a future house would necessarily be on the reservation. And the district court correctly concluded that the fact that husband moved after the dissolution trial is not "newly discovered evidence." Generally, newly discovered evidence "must have been in existence at the time of trial but not known to the party at that time." Swanson v. Williams, 303 Minn. 433, 436, 228 N.W.2d 860, 862 (1975). Because wife has provided no evidence of fraud or newly discovered evidence on which a new trial could be ordered, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying wife's motion for a new trial.

II.

Wife argues that the district court abused its discretion by awarding the parties joint legal and physical custody of their children when the record shows that the parties are unable to cooperate in raising their children and that an intermediary is necessary to facilitate cooperation between the parties. In its order denying wife's motion for amended findings or a new trial, the district court concluded that it was "satisfied that the record sufficiently supports the result reached in the Judgment." Appellate review of a custody determination is limited to determining whether the district court abused its discretion by making findings unsupported by the evidence or by improperly applying the law. Silbaugh v. Silbaugh, 543 N.W.2d 639, 641 (Minn.1996); Pikula v. Pikula, 374 N.W.2d 705, 710 (Minn.1985). To assure proper consideration of children's best interests, the legislature has identified factors that a district court must consider when making a custody determination. Minn.Stat. § 518.17, subd. 3(a) (2004); see Minn.Stat. § 518.17, subd. 1(a) (2004) (enumerating best-interests considerations). When a party seeks joint physical custody, the district court is required to consider four additional factors: the parents' ability to cooperate, their methods of resolving disputes, whether it would be detrimental to the child for one parent to have sole authority over the child's upbringing, and whether domestic abuse has occurred between the parents. Minn.Stat. § 518.17, subd. 2 (2004).

Review of the judgment here shows that the district court made lengthy and detailed findings on the best-interests factors and the joint-custody factors to support its award of joint legal and physical custody. Wife challenges the district court's findings on two of the four joint-custody factors.

When a district court awards joint legal or physical custody over the objection of one parent, the court must make detailed findings on each of the statutory joint-custody factors and explain how the factors led to the court's determination that joint custody would be in the best interests of the child. Id. "The court shall use a rebuttable presumption that upon request of either or both parties, joint legal custody is in the best interests of the child." Id. Here, before trial, husband requested joint legal and...