In re Marriage of Barile ( 2008 )

No. 2--07--1081 Filed: 10-8-08
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
______________________________________________________________________________
In re MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
PAUL A. BARILE, ) of Du Page County.
)
Petitioner-Appellee, )
)
and ) No. 03--D--565
)
CARLA BARILE, ) Honorable
) James J. Konetski,
Respondent-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
______________________________________________________________________________
PRESIDING JUSTICE ZENOFF delivered the opinion of the court:
The marriage of petitioner, Paul A. Barile, and respondent, Carla Barile, was dissolved on
November 16, 2004. In the dissolution judgment, the court ordered petitioner to pay respondent
maintenance of $5,318 a month. The court then indicated that the amount of maintenance was
nonmodifiable. On September 1, 2006, petitioner petitioned to terminate, modify, or abate
maintenance. 750 ILCS 5/510(a) (West 2006). Respondent moved to dismiss petitioner's petition
(see 735 ILCS 5/2--619(a)(9) (West 2006)) and petitioned to hold petitioner in contempt for failing
to pay maintenance as of September 2006. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss. Following
a hearing on respondent's petition, the court, which was not the same court that presided over the
dissolution proceedings, declined to hold petitioner in contempt. However, the court ordered
petitioner to pay respondent $69,134 in past-due maintenance and imposed interest of 9% on the
arrearage, which interest was to run from the date the court entered judgment on the arrearage.
No. 2--07--1081
Respondent appeals, contending that the court erred when it (1) found that petitioner should not be
held in contempt and (2) gave her interest on the maintenance arrearage only from September 26,
2007, the date of judgment, and not from September 2006, when petitioner stopped paying
maintenance. We reverse and remand.
The November 16, 2004, dissolution order awarded "[respondent] *** four years reviewable
maintenance from [petitioner] in the amount of *** $5,318 *** per month." During that four-year
period, petitioner's maintenance obligation was "non-modifiable in amount." The amount was based
on petitioner's average gross annual income of $158,000. The dissolution order reserved the issue
of whether respondent was required to pay petitioner child support, providing that petitioner shall
support the parties' two children and "shall pay and be responsible for all of the out of pocket
uncovered medical and extracurricular expenses of the minor children." Nowhere in the order was
petitioner required to pay for the college education of the parties' children.
At the hearing on respondent's contempt petition, respondent testified that the last
maintenance payment she received from petitioner was in August 2006. Thus, petitioner's
maintenance arrearage totaled $69,134.1 Respondent worked 20 hours per week and earned $9.55
per hour. Respondent testified that her hours would soon increase to 40 hours per week. Although
respondent worked to support herself, she had to borrow money to make ends meet. Respondent
testified that petitioner paid her her share of the equity in the marital home, in which petitioner now
resided. While petitioner owned his own home, respondent was currently renting her home.
1
This was the amount of the arrearage as of September 26, 2007, when the trial court ruled
on the contempt petition.
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Based on respondent's testimony, the trial court found that a rule to show cause should issue
and that the burden of proof shifted to petitioner to establish that his failure to pay maintenance was
not willful.
Petitioner conceded that he stopped making maintenance payments to respondent on
September 1, 2006. In 2006, petitioner's gross income was $164,000. That gross income included
$74,000 that petitioner received from Grubb & Ellis, a previous employer. On cross-examination,
petitioner testified that he received a total of $235,000 from two employers in 2006 and got $300 per
month from the Veteran's Administration. In January 2007, petitioner started new employment,
earning $8,332 per month within the first six months and receiving $1,500 when the company for
which he worked was sold. Also in 2007, petitioner obtained a $21,347 tax refund.
In addition to presenting evidence about his income, petitioner also testified about his
expenses. In January 2005, petitioner received a loan of $50,000 from a previous employer, and he
was given $100,000 in draws, which are like loans. Although petitioner earned $60,000 within the
first six months of 2007, he received a loan of $4,166.66 per month for the remainder of the year.
Petitioner used the $50,000 loan and the $74,000 he was paid to pay back certain outstanding debts,
such as health insurance costs and a $61,000 loan he received from his mother. After the parties'
marriage was dissolved, petitioner owed his attorney $220,000, and he owed almost $565,000 on the
marital home, which he bought in 2004 for $610,000. Petitioner believed that the mortgage on the
home would be foreclosed.
Petitioner estimated that his living expenses exceeded $12,000 per month. In fact, petitioner
testified that his living expenses in October 2006 totaled $15,000, which did not include any
maintenance petitioner should have paid respondent. Petitioner's living expenses included many of
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the parties' children's expenses, which the dissolution order required him to pay. Specifically,
petitioner's living expenses included the college tuition of the parties' daughter, Erica; health
insurance; his mortgage; real estate taxes; car payments for himself, which totaled $598 per month;
car payments for Erica; automobile insurance for himself; automobile insurance for Erica, which
totaled $343 per month; cell phones for the parties' children; utilities; blood pressure medication;
clothing for the parties' children; work expenses, including parking costs of $400 per month and gas;
a three-day trip to California in the summer of 2006; golfing with the parties' son, Blake, almost
every weekend; and food for himself and Blake.
During various parts of the proceedings on the contempt petition, the trial court interjected
several concerns it had with the maintenance provision of the parties' dissolution order. Specifically,
the court seriously questioned whether Illinois law permitted a court to enter an order for
maintenance that provided that the amount of maintenance was nonmodifiable. Because of this
concern, the court asked the parties to present arguments on whether, because of the unauthorized
order, the court had jurisdiction over the case. The court finally determined that the maintenance
provision in the dissolution order was voidable, not void, and, thus, the court had jurisdiction over
the case.
When the cause continued, petitioner stated that he had filed the petition to abate, terminate,
or modify maintenance based on the fact that the maintenance provision in the dissolution order was
void. The court advised petitioner that it had found that the order was voidable. Petitioner's petition
to modify maintenance was dismissed, as the dissolution order provided that maintenance was
nonmodifiable.
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Petitioner then testified on cross-examination that he quit Grubb & Ellis in December 2005,
after having worked there for six years. Petitioner quit because his insurance was eliminated. When
petitioner left, he owed his employer $6,300 in unpaid health insurance expenses, which was
ultimately taken out of his pay. Also in 2005, petitioner lent $10,000 to a friend, which had never
been repaid. Petitioner testified that he had tried to collect payment on the loan, but his friend had
not been able to repay the debt.
When asked about the money he spent on the parties' children, petitioner testified that Erica
went to the College of Du Page (COD) until 2005. At that time, she transferred to a community
college in California. She decided to go to school in California because she wanted to get away from
the bad influence of some of her friends here. Although tuition in California was initially higher than
at COD, petitioner now paid less than he would have paid for her to go to COD.
In addition to paying Erica's college tuition, petitioner paid $1,200 of Erica's $1,700 rent, and
he gave Erica spending money. In fact, during some parts of 2006, he gave Erica spending money
totaling $1,000 per month. Further, petitioner paid Erica's dogs' veterinary bills, and, on one
occasion, he paid for the dogs to be boarded. Petitioner also sent Blake to California for two months
to visit Erica, and he paid for Erica to fly to Illinois at Christmas time. Although petitioner
submitted several documents detailing his assets and liabilities, the documents did not itemize
petitioner's expenses beyond, for example, general household expenses, business costs, and college
expenses for Erica.
The trial court found that petitioner was not in contempt. In so doing, the court noted that
it was clear that petitioner did not comply with the dissolution order and that petitioner should have
spent the money he used to play golf and take care of Erica's dogs to satisfy his maintenance
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obligation. Nevertheless, the court believed that the degree to which petitioner spent money on
things other than maintenance was not "contemptuous."
Further, the court noted that petitioner's "motivation" was not to "stiff" respondent. Rather,
the court believed that petitioner just did not have the money with which to pay respondent. The
court considered that petitioner filed a petition to modify maintenance, that petitioner spent money
on the parties' children and not on frivolous things for himself, and that, when the previous judge
entered the dissolution order, he recognized that it was going to be difficult for petitioner to satisfy
his maintenance obligation. The court then entered a judgment of $69,134 in respondent's favor and
ordered that interest on the arrearage was to run at 9% from that day forward. This timely appeal
followed.
Respondent raises two issues on appeal. Specifically, she claims that (1) the trial court erred
when it refused to find petitioner in contempt; and (2) interest on the maintenance arrearage should
run from September 2006, when petitioner stopped paying maintenance. Before considering those
issues, we first address respondent's motion to strike petitioner's brief.
In respondent's motion to strike petitioner's brief, she observes that petitioner's brief is
lacking in many respects.2 For example, and most glaringly, petitioner fails to cite to the record and
does not cite any authority in support of his arguments (210 Ill. 2d Rs. 341(h)(7), (i)). Though a pro
2
In the motion to strike, respondent takes issue with petitioner's "Response to Brief filed by
Barbara A. Preiner, Attorney for Appellant" and a document entitled "Response to Appeal," which
petitioner allegedly filed with this court on December 26, 2007. Although we have the "Response
to Brief," nothing in our records shows that a "Response to Appeal" was ever filed. Thus, for
purposes of the motion to strike, we limit our consideration to the "Response to Brief."
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se litigant, petitioner is not excused from following the rules that dictate the form and content of
appellate briefs. Steinbrecher v. Steinbrecher, 197 Ill. 2d 514, 528 (2001). Although petitioner's
brief is clearly deficient and we certainly could strike his brief for his failure to comply with the rules
(see Eickmeyer v. Blietz Organization, Inc., 284 Ill. App. 3d 134, 138 (1996)), we choose not to do
so, as we understand the issues raised and we have the benefit of respondent's cogent brief
(Twardowski v. Holiday Hospitality Franchising, Inc., 321 Ill. App. 3d 509, 511 (2001)). We
admonish petitioner to comply with the rules governing appellate briefs should he file a brief with
this court in the future.
Turning to the merits, we first consider whether the trial court erred when it refused to find
petitioner in contempt of court for failing to pay his maintenance obligation. Petitioner argues that
he could not be found in contempt because (1) the part of the dissolution order that provided that
maintenance was nonmodifiable was unauthorized, and, thus, petitioner's failure to pay respondent
maintenance was justified; and (2) he could not afford to pay respondent maintenance once he paid
his own expenses and those of the parties' two children.
Although it is true that the trial court should not have ordered that the amount of maintenance
was nonmodifiable (750 ILCS 5/510 (West 2006)), such an order merely made that provision of the
dissolution order voidable, not void (see In re Marriage of David, 367 Ill. App. 3d 908, 916-17
(2006)). That said, the issue then becomes whether petitioner can be held in contempt for violating
a voidable order. As this presents a question of law, our review is de novo. In re Marriage of
Thompson, 357 Ill. App. 3d 854, 857 (2005).
In In re Marriage of Steinberg, 302 Ill. App. 3d 845, 849 (1998), the husband was required
to pay the wife child support. The child support agreement expressed the husband's support
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obligation as a percentage of his income, which is not authorized. Steinberg, 302 Ill. App. 3d at 852.
The husband stopped paying child support, and the wife petitioned to hold the husband in contempt.
The trial court granted the petition, and the husband appealed. Steinberg, 302 Ill. App. 3d at 851-52.
On appeal, the appellate court rejected the husband's claim that he was justified in not paying the
wife child support because the order for child support was voidable. Steinberg, 302 Ill. App. 3d at
853. Because the order for child support was voidable, not void, the husband, in order to avoid being
found in contempt of court, had to present evidence that he tried to satisfy his child support
obligation. Steinberg, 302 Ill. App. 3d at 853; cf. Horzely v. Horzely, 71 Ill. App. 3d 542, 546
(1979) ("one is justified in refusing to comply with a void order and contempt will not lie for
violation of a void order"). The husband failed to present any evidence that he tried to comply with
the order, and, thus, the trial court did not err when it found the husband in contempt. Steinberg, 302
Ill. App. 3d at 854.
Here, as in Steinberg, the trial court, as noted, should not have ordered that the amount of
maintenance was nonmodifiable. However, the fact that the trial court overlooked or misapplied the
law in so providing did not mean that petitioner, without subjecting himself to a contempt petition,
could disobey the order and stop paying respondent maintenance.
Having concluded that petitioner could be held in contempt for violating a voidable order,
we next consider whether the trial court erred when it found that petitioner should not be held in
contempt for failing to pay respondent maintenance. "The power to enforce an order to pay money
through contempt is limited to cases of wilful refusal to obey the court's order." In re Marriage of
Logston, 103 Ill. 2d 266, 285 (1984). The failure to make support payments as ordered is prima facie
evidence of contempt. In re Marriage of Sharp, 369 Ill. App. 3d 271, 279 (2006). Once the party
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bringing the contempt petition establishes a prima facie case, the burden shifts to the alleged
contemnor to prove that the failure to make support payments was not willful or contumacious and
that there exists a valid excuse for his failure to pay. Sharp, 369 Ill. App. 3d at 279. "[W]hether a
party is guilty of contempt is a question of fact for the trial court, and *** a reviewing court will not
disturb the finding unless it is against the manifest weight of the evidence or the record reflects an
abuse of discretion." Logston, 103 Ill. 2d at 286-87.3
Here, regardless of whether the trial court abused its discretion, we determine that its finding
that petitioner was not in contempt was against the manifest weight of the evidence. At the hearing
on the petition, the evidence revealed that, in November 2004, petitioner was ordered to pay
respondent maintenance of $5,318 per month. In September 2006, petitioner stopped paying
3
To varying degrees, the appellate court has invoked the Logston standard (e.g., In re
Marriage of Deike, 381 Ill. App. 3d 620, 633 (2008)), invoked only the manifest-weight standard
(e.g., In re Marriage of Kneitz, 341 Ill. App. 3d 299, 303 (2003)), and invoked only the abuse-of-
discretion standard (e.g., Sharp, 369 Ill. App. 3d at 279). For its part, the supreme court has never
expressly abandoned the Logston standard in the context of reviewing orders on contempt petitions.
However, in other contexts, the court has recently cautioned against the application of the abuse-of-
discretion standard to findings of fact. See Best v. Best, 223 Ill. 2d 342, 348-50 (2006) (rejecting
long-held belief that abuse-of-discretion standard applies to factual finding of abuse under Domestic
Violence Act); see also People v. Vincent, 226 Ill. 2d 1, 17 n.5 (2007) ("[t]he abuse of discretion
standard is not tied to any quantum of proof"). Nevertheless, as we are reviewing the ruling on a
contempt petition and the supreme court has not specifically altered the standard of review in this
context, we will adhere to the Logston standard.
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maintenance, and, as of September 2007, petitioner's outstanding support obligation totaled $69,134.
This evidence was sufficient to meet respondent's burden of establishing a prima facie case of
contempt. Sharp, 369 Ill. App. 3d at 280.
The evidence petitioner presented failed to rebut respondent's proof. Petitioner's support
obligation of $5,318 per month was based on petitioner's average gross annual income of $158,000.
When petitioner stopped paying respondent maintenance, he was earning quite a bit more than this.
Indeed, the evidence revealed that he earned more than $235,000 in 2006. Although petitioner had
other expenses and he used a portion of his income to support the parties' two children, which the
dissolution order required him to do, the order also provided that his obligation to support his
children lasted only until they reached majority. Thus, petitioner was not required to pay for Erica's
college tuition, rent, or veterinary bills, and he certainly did not need to give Erica spending money
totaling $1,000 per month, pay off her car loan, and pay for her car insurance. "[T]he defense of
poverty and misfortune as a valid excuse for nonpayment has been found applicable only in the most
extreme cases, notably where a [party who is ordered to pay support] had no money and no way of
getting money to meet his support obligations." In re Marriage of Dall, 212 Ill. App. 3d 85, 97-98
(1991). Moreover, a party's "financial inability to comply with an order must be shown by definite
and explicit evidence." Dall, 212 Ill. App. 3d at 98. Here, petitioner failed to meet that threshold.
Petitioner's choice to cover his own expenses and many nonessential expenses that the parties'
children incurred does not absolve him of his maintenance obligation.
The last issue we address is whether respondent was entitled to interest on the maintenance
arrearage from September 2006, when petitioner stopped paying maintenance, or from September
2007, when the trial court entered judgment on the arrearage. Resolving this issue requires us to
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interpret various sections of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Marriage Act)
(750 ILCS 5/101 et seq. (West 2006)) and the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/1--101
et seq. (West 2006)).
In interpreting a statute, we adhere to the well-settled principles of statutory construction.
In re Marriage of Lindman, 356 Ill. App. 3d 462, 465 (2005). Our primary objective is to determine
and give effect to the intent of the legislature, the best indicator of which is the plain language of the
statute. In re Marriage of Rogers, 213 Ill. 2d 129, 136 (2004). When the language used in the statute
is clear and unambiguous, we must give the statute effect as written. In re Marriage of Gray, 314 Ill.
App. 3d 249, 252 (2000). Because interpreting a statute presents a question of law, our review is de
novo. Rogers, 213 Ill. 2d at 135-36.
Section 504 of the Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/504 (West 2006)) governs the award of
maintenance. Subsection (b--5) provides:
"Any maintenance obligation including any unallocated maintenance and child
support obligation, or any portion of any support obligation, that becomes due and remains
unpaid shall accrue simple interest as set forth in Section 505 of this Act." 750 ILCS
5/504(b--5) (West 2006).
Section 505 of the Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/505 (West 2006)), to which section 504(b--5)
directs us, addresses child support, the action a party may take if child support is not paid, and the
penalties that may be imposed when a child support order is not satisfied. Subsection (b) provides:
"A support obligation, or any portion of a support obligation, which becomes due and
remains unpaid as of the end of each month, excluding the child support that was due for that
month to the extent that it was not paid in that month, shall accrue simple interest as set forth
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in Section 12--109 of the Code *** [(735 ILCS 5/12--109 (West 2006))]." 750 ILCS
5/505(b) (West 2006).
Section 12--109 of the Code, to which section 505(b) of the Marriage Act refers, delineates
how interest on child support shall be calculated. Subsection (a) indicates:
"Every judgment except those arising by operation of law from child support orders
shall bear interest thereon as provided in Section 2--1303 [of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2--1303
(West 2006))]." (Emphasis added.) 735 ILCS 5/12--109(a) (West 2006).
Subsection (b) then provides:
"Every judgment arising by operation of law from a child support order shall bear
interest as provided in this subsection. The interest on judgments arising by operation of law
from child support orders shall be calculated by applying one-twelfth of the current statutory
interest rate as provided in Section 2--1303 to the unpaid child support balance as of the end
of each calendar month. The unpaid child support balance at the end of the month is the total
amount of child support ordered, excluding the child support that was due for that month to
the extent that it was not paid in that month and including judgments from retroactive child
support, less all payments received and applied as set forth in this subsection. The accrued
interest shall not be included in the unpaid child support balance when calculating interest
at the end of the month." 735 ILCS 5/12--109(b) (West 2006).
The remainder of section 12--109(b) of the Code provides a formula by which courts can calculate
the interest on unpaid child support obligations.
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Section 2--1303 of the Code, to which section 12--109(a) and section 12--109(b) of the Code
refer, addresses how a court should calculate interest on judgments. That section specifies, in
relevant part:
"Judgments recovered in any court shall draw interest at the rate of 9% per annum
from the date of the judgment until satisfied ***." (Emphasis added.) 735 ILCS 5/2--1303
(West 2006).
Under the plain language of these statutes, it is clear that the Marriage Act directs us to treat
maintenance and child support similarly in calculating interest on unpaid support obligations.
Section 504(b--5) of the Marriage Act states that maintenance "shall accrue simple interest as set
forth in Section 505," which pertains to child support. 750 ILCS 5/504(b--5) (West 2006). In turn,
section 505 states that child support "shall accrue simple interest as set forth in Section 12--109 of
the Code." 750 ILCS 5/505(b) (West 2006). Thus, section 504(b--5) effectively states that
maintenance, like child support, "shall accrue simple interest as set forth" in section 12--109(b). 750
ILCS 5/504(b--5) (West 2006). Because section 12--109(b) dictates that interest on child support
accrues if support is not paid at the end of the month when due, section 504(b--5), by incorporating
section 12--109, dictates that interest on maintenance accrues the same way. See also D. Yavitz,
Interest on Past-Due Maintenance and Child Support: the New Calculus, 94 Ill. B.J. 76, 93 (2006).
While section 505 of the Marriage Act directs us to section 12--109 of the Code without
specifying subsection (a) or (b), it appears clear we are directed to subsection (b), because subsection
(b) provides for the method of calculating interest on child support, hence on maintenance.
However, to the extent the legislature may have left this ambiguous, we engage in the following
analysis.
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Section 12--109(a), read in isolation, would appear to suggest that interest on maintenance
accrues as of the date of judgment, because the exception in (a) is for child support. Thus,
presumably, interest on anything else, including maintenance, is subject to section 2--1303 of the
Code, setting up a potential conflict between section 12--109(a) and the relevant portions of the
Marriage Act.
This potential conflict does not persuade us to conclude that interest on maintenance is not
calculated pursuant to section 12--109(b). Section 12--109(a) cannot be read in isolation, but, rather,
we must consider it with reference to section 504(b--5). See Henrich v. Libertyville High School,
186 Ill. 2d 381, 392 (1998) ("statutes relating to the same subject must be compared and so construed
with reference to each other that effect may be given to all of the provisions of each, if it can fairly
and reasonably be done"). Once section 12--109(a) and section 504(b--5) are read together, the
statutes are harmonious. Section 12--109(a) excepts child support, and section 504(b--5) provides
that maintenance is to be treated like child support for the specific purpose of calculating interest,
so that we calculate interest on maintenance in accordance with section 12--109(b). It would be
illogical to conclude that, because of section 12--109(a), maintenance should not accrue interest in
the same manner as child support, when the Marriage Act contains explicit language to the contrary.
Moreover, even were we to view sections 12--109(a) and 504(b--5) as conflicting, the
conflict would not alter our result, because, "[w]here a general statutory provision and a more
specific statutory provision relate to the same subject, we will presume that the legislature intended
the more specific provision to govern." Moore v. Green, 219 Ill. 2d 470, 480 (2006). Section
504(b--5), again by incorporating section 12--109, specifically subjects maintenance to section
12--109(b). Section 12--109(a), by contrast, excludes maintenance from section 12--109(b), but only
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by generally excluding everything but child support. Accordingly, we hold that interest on
maintenance, like interest on child support, is calculated per section 12--109(b).
In sum, we reverse the trial court's finding that petitioner was not in contempt and its award
on the maintenance arrearage. We remand the cause for the imposition of a contempt sanction and
for the calculation of interest on the arrearage per section 12--109(b) of the Code.
The orders of the circuit court of Du Page County are reversed, and the cause is remanded.
Reversed and remanded.
McLAREN and GROMETER, JJ., concur.
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