In re the Marriage of: Kathryn Suzanne Neufeld Hare, n/k/a Kathryn Suzanne Neufeld v. Robert Russell Hare ( 2014 )

This opinion will be unpublished and
may not be cited except as provided by
Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2012).
STATE OF MINNESOTA
IN COURT OF APPEALS
A13-1700
In re the Marriage of:
Kathryn Suzanne Neufeld Hare,
n/k/a Kathryn Suzanne Neufeld, petitioner,
Respondent,
vs.
Robert Russell Hare,
Appellant.
Filed August 4, 2014
Affirmed
Hudson, Judge
Stearns County District Court
File No. 73-FA-11-3209
Virginia A. Marso, Marso & Kremer Law Office, Waite Park, Minnesota (for respondent)
Robert R. Hare, Upsala, Minnesota (pro se appellant)
Considered and decided by Smith, Presiding Judge; Halbrooks, Judge; and
Hudson, Judge.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
HUDSON, Judge
In this marital dissolution dispute, pro-se appellant husband argues that the district
court abused its discretion by denying his claim for maintenance from respondent wife,
erred by ordering him to pay a debt owed to a third party, and abused its discretion by
granting respondent legal custody of the parties’ second-youngest child and granting
conduct-based attorney fees. We affirm.
FACTS
The district court issued a judgment dissolving the 23-year marriage of appellant
Robert Hare and respondent Kathryn Neufeld in 2012. At the time of trial, appellant was
working intermittent part-time jobs; respondent was a teacher for the Albany school
district who worked more than 80%, but less than 100%, time. The parties have two
minor children. Appellant has proceeded pro se throughout this action.
While the dissolution was pending, respondent sought permission from the district
court to take the children on a family trip to Canada, alleging that appellant would not
sign a permission slip unless she agreed to his proposed summer parenting schedule. In
response, appellant moved for appointment of a parenting consultant or family
counseling. After a June 2011 hearing, the district court found that, although appellant
had recently signed the slip, he had unreasonably contributed to the length and expense of
the proceeding by failing to timely sign it, refusing to cancel the hearing because of
summer parenting-schedule concerns when his motion did not address temporary
parenting time, and refusing to advise respondent’s counsel on an acceptable mediator.
The district court ordered appellant to pay $500 in conduct-based attorney fees.
The district court held a trial on maintenance and custody issues. A custody
evaluator recommended that the parties share joint legal and physical custody of the
minor children. She opined that, because of the parties’ inability to make joint decisions,
if there were disputed medical issues, the party providing medical insurance should make
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the final decision, and if a problem arose about academic decisionmaking, respondent
should decide during the academic year, and appellant would decide during the summer.
Appellant testified that the homestead was in foreclosure; that the parties had filed
bankruptcy, with over $100,000 in unsecured credit-card debt; and that they both also had
student loan debt. Respondent testified that to pay the bankruptcy filing fees, she had a
friend, L.N., act as guarantor, with the understanding that appellant would pay back his
half of the fees, but that appellant had not paid his portion. Appellant also challenged
respondent’s claimed monthly budget as higher than the marital standard of living and
alleged that her list of monthly expenses was not supported by receipts.
Appellant testified that he earned about $5,000 in 2011 and that respondent was
primarily supporting the children. He testified that he graduated from college in 2008
with a degree in philosophy and a minor in information media and planned to become a
public school librarian, but was unable obtain work in that field. He then worked part
time as a school paraprofessional and preparing taxes, wrote a few articles yearly, and did
some painting. He testified that it had “been very very hard to find a job” because he was
over 55 and had been a long-term homemaker. He testified that his long-term goal had
originally been to “sit down and seriously write philosophy[, not] . . . to make money,
[but] to try and offer something of enrichment to the world.” He submitted information
on jobs he had sought since 2008 and testified that he was now looking at low paying
jobs, for which he was being called back. He stated that he cared for the children’s
medical needs and, before he had health issues, performed major remodeling on the
homestead and car repairs.
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Respondent testified that she currently worked .84 time and that her working hours
had varied from .64-.96 full-time equivalent (FTE). She testified that, since beginning
work at the Albany school district 16 years previously, she had not turned down full time
work. She indicated that the parties had not lived extravagantly; that the debt was
incurred to support the family; and that she shared the childcare and housework with
appellant. Respondent testified that she had asked appellant “to get a job many many
many times” and that she had no ability to pay him maintenance without borrowing
money to feed the children.
Appellant argued that respondent had intentionally reduced her total income since
the parties’ separation by declining to continue her previous additional work in school
musicals and giving private music lessons. Respondent testified that she had never made
$63,000 gross income, as alleged by appellant, and that her most recent tax return showed
income of $54,240. Respondent testified that she did not take on additional work during
the last two years because it involved too much time for the financial benefit provided,
including significant after-school driving.
In the dissolution judgment, the district court granted the parties joint physical
custody of the minor children, with sole legal custody to respondent. The district court
found that, because the parties were unable to work together on major parenting
decisions, joint legal custody was not in the children’s best interests. The district court
found that respondent had total gross yearly income of $54,240, based on her
employment with the Albany school district, with reasonable monthly expenses of
$3,036. The district court found respondent’s claimed monthly grocery budget excessive
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and reduced her reasonable monthly expenses for groceries from $700 to $500 per month.
The district court found that appellant was “voluntarily employed on a less-than-full-time
basis,” with potential income of $15,080 per year, calculated at 150% of the current
minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, with reasonable monthly expenses of $1,864.
Based on the maintenance factors in Minn. Stat. § 518.552 (2012), the district
court found that both parties were unable to meet their reasonable monthly needs and that
respondent was unable to contribute to appellant’s needs because she could not even meet
her own reasonable monthly expenses. The district court therefore denied appellant’s
request for maintenance. The district court also ordered appellant to reimburse
respondent for his portion of the debt owed to L.N. and ordered that the attorney-fee
award from June 2011 would not merge into the judgment, but remain outstanding.
Appellant moved to reopen the judgment or, in the alternative, for amended
findings or a new trial. The district court issued amended findings, incorporating
additional findings that respondent was not voluntarily underemployed, no basis existed
to assign potential income to her, and appellant had failed to rebut the presumption that
he could be gainfully employed on a full-time basis. This appeal follows.
DECISION
I
Appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion by declining to grant
him maintenance. The district court has broad discretion when determining spousal
maintenance. Erlandson v. Erlandson, 318 N.W.2d 36, 38 (Minn. 1982). “A district
court abuses its discretion regarding maintenance if its findings of fact are clearly
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erroneous.” Kampf v. Kampf, 732 N.W.2d 630, 633 (Minn. App. 2007), review denied
(Minn. Aug. 21, 2007). “Findings of fact are clearly erroneous when they are manifestly
contrary to the weight of the evidence or not reasonably supported by the evidence as a
whole.” Id. (quotation omitted). The reviewing court views the record in the light most
favorable to the district court’s findings and defers to the district court’s credibility
determinations. Vangsness v. Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d 468, 472 (Minn. App. 2000).
The district court may grant spousal maintenance if it finds, among other things,
that the spouse seeking maintenance lacks the property to provide for that party’s own
reasonable needs or is unable to obtain adequate support through employment. Minn.
Stat. § 518.552, subd. 1. If maintenance is granted, the court must consider all relevant
factors including the financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, the likelihood
of that party becoming self-supporting, the standard of living during the marriage, the
duration of the marriage, the length of absence from employment, opportunities lost by
the party seeking maintenance, the age and the physical and emotional condition of that
party, and the contribution of each party to the marital property. Id., subd. 2 (2012). The
district court weighs these factors under the particular circumstances of the case to
determine whether spousal maintenance is needed, and if so, the amount and duration of
the award. Kampf, 732 N.W.2d at 633–34. “The issue is, in essence, a balancing of the
recipient’s need against the obligor’s ability to pay.” Prahl v. Prahl, 627 N.W.2d 698,
702 (Minn. App. 2001).
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Appellant’s income
In considering appellant’s motion for amended findings, the district court found
that he was voluntarily employed on a less-than-full-time basis. The district court
therefore imputed to him the amount of income that he could earn working full time at
150% of the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour; the district court computed this amount as
$1,885 gross income per month. See Minn. Stat. § 518A.32 (2012) (providing methods
of calculating potential income when a party is voluntarily unemployed or
underemployed); see also Welsh v. Welsh, 775 N.W.2d 364, 370 (Minn. App. 2009)
(stating that whether a party is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed for purposes of
child support presents a question of fact, which this court reviews for clear error).
Appellant argues that he should not be considered voluntarily underemployed
because he has been a full-time caregiver for the parties’ children, did not decrease his
income in bad faith, and has worked increased hours since the separation. But in
addressing appellant’s motion for amended findings, the district court noted evidence that
the parties have recently shared caretaking duties, that appellant is a college graduate
with a good academic record and needs no further training, and that he only recently
extended his job search to lower-paying jobs. Based on this record, the district court did
not clearly err by determining that appellant was voluntarily underemployed and did not
err by imputing potential income to him under Minn. Stat. § 518A.32.
Respondent’s income and expenses
Appellant maintains that the district court clearly erred by declining to find that
respondent was voluntarily underemployed and unjustifiably self-limited her income. He
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argues that she had a gross income of $63,000 before the parties separated in 2010, that
she was working only part time for the Albany school district, and that she recently cut
back on her additional work of teaching private lessons and directing extracurricular
activities. But the record shows that in 2010, the parties reported joint federal taxable
income of $48,955. And the district court did not err by considering respondent’s
regular, nine-month school-year employment as appropriate employment in determining
her ability to meet her needs while meeting those of the party seeking maintenance under
Minn. Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2(g). The district court found that, since 2006-2007,
respondent’s teaching contracts varied between .63 FTE and .84 FTE, and that she never
turned down full-time employment. Although the evidence shows that in one previous
year, her contract was for .89 FTE, the district court’s general finding on the range of her
FTE is not clearly erroneous. Further, respondent’s testimony reflects that, generally, in
years in which she directed a play, she had an FTE on the lower end of that range, so that
any extra work would only increase her income to the upper end of that range. “That the
record might support findings other than those made by the [district] court does not show
that the court’s findings are defective.” Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d at 474. Finally,
imputing income to a maintenance obligor requires a determination that the obligor was
acting in bad faith or unjustifiably limiting income. Melius v. Melius, 765 N.W.2d 411,
415 (Minn. App. 2009). The district court was entitled to credit respondent’s testimony
that her previous schedule of additional part-time work required long hours and made it
difficult to spend time with her children. See Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d at 472 (stating that
an appellate court defers to the district court’s credibility determinations). The district
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court did not clearly err by finding that respondent did not unjustifiably self-limit her
income.
Appellant also argues that the district court clearly erred in its findings of
respondent’s monthly expenses, maintaining that they were significantly higher than her
claimed budget in the 2011 bankruptcy proceedings, above the marital standard of living,
and, if used to set maintenance, would produce an inequitable result. The district court
reduced respondent’s claimed grocery budget by $200 per month, but otherwise adopted
her proposed monthly expenses as reasonable. The district court, which also reduced
appellant’s claimed expenses, did not err by declining to base its findings of respondent’s
expenses for maintenance purposes on the expenses she claimed for bankruptcy purposes
over a year before trial. And the marital standard of living is only one factor that informs
the district court’s decision on spousal maintenance. See Minn. Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2
(requiring consideration of “all relevant factors” and providing list of necessary
considerations). The district court’s allowance of respondent’s claimed budget does not
mean that it did not consider all of the statutory factors in declining to grant maintenance
to appellant.
Appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion by failing to allow him
additional time for discovery to rebut respondent’s claimed expenses. At trial, he
indicated that he had not been furnished with receipts for groceries or from respondent’s
family trips; respondent’s attorney stated that she had furnished all of the information that
respondent possessed. Appellant acknowledged that he did not move to compel
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additional discovery, and the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to order
it. See Minn. R. Civ. P. 37.01 (governing motion to compel discovery).
Permanent maintenance and reservation of maintenance
Appellant maintains that, because there is no evidence that he will become self-
supporting in the future, an award of permanent maintenance is proper. See Minn. Stat.
§ 518.552, subd. 3 (stating that when there is uncertainty as to the necessity of a
permanent award, the court “shall” award permanent maintenance and leave the order
open for later modification). But a prerequisite for ordering permanent maintenance is a
showing that some maintenance is appropriate. Here, the district court thoroughly
considered the statutory factors and determined that no maintenance was warranted. The
district court found that both parties were unable to meet their reasonable monthly needs,
and that “[respondent] simply has no ability to meet any of [appellant’s] needs because
[she] cannot even meet her own reasonable monthly expenses.” This finding is not
clearly erroneous. The district court did not abuse its discretion by declining to order
either maintenance for a limited period or permanent maintenance.
Appellant argues in the alternative that the district court abused its discretion by
failing to reserve jurisdiction over the issue of maintenance. When the district court
neither awards maintenance nor retains jurisdiction to award it in the future, the district
court loses authority to do so after dissolution. Tomscak v. Tomscak, 352 N.W.2d 464,
466 (Minn. App. 1984), superseded on other grounds by Minn. Stat. § 518.145 (2012). A
district court “may reserve jurisdiction of the issue of maintenance for determination at a
later date,” Minn. Stat. § 518A.27, subd. 1 (2012), but it is not generally required to do
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so. Although the record shows that appellant has health conditions that limit his ability to
perform physical labor, the district court found that there was no evidence that those
conditions may prevent him from future full-time employment. Appellant has not
challenged this finding, and we reject his speculative argument that respondent will be
better able to afford maintenance at a later date because her finances will improve with an
impending move and remarriage.
II
Appellant challenges the district court’s finding that allocated him the remaining
$600 debt owed when L.N., a third party, lent the parties money for the bankruptcy filing.
The district court found that the indebtedness was co-signed by L.N.; that respondent
paid for her half, but L.N. was forced to pay appellant’s portion; and that L.N. sought
recovery of the remaining amount from appellant. “Debts, like assets, are apportionable”
in a dissolution matter. Chamberlain v. Chamberlain, 615 N.W.2d 405, 414 (Minn. App.
2000), review denied (Minn. Oct. 25, 2000). Apportionment of marital debt is within the
district court’s discretion. O’Donnell v. O’Donnell, 412 N.W.2d 394, 396 (Minn. App.
1987). Appellant argues that L.N. is not a party to this matter and that his payment of the
debt to respondent would not guarantee that L.N. would receive it. But because it is
undisputed that the parties owed a marital debt to L.N., the district court did not err by
dividing that debt or abuse its discretion by ordering appellant to reimburse respondent
when she paid his half of the debt to L.N.
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III
Appellant challenges the district court’s grant of sole legal custody to respondent
of the parties’ second-youngest child, who will turn 18 in October 2014. We initially
note that after this appeal was filed, the district court approved the parties’ stipulation as
to custody of the parties’ youngest child and issued an amended judgment awarding sole
legal and physical custody of that child to appellant as of June 1, 2014. The district court
considered the matter as a motion for custody modification, based on respondent’s
impending move to Canada and the child’s wish to remain in the United States. Although
the filing of an appeal suspends the district court’s authority to issue an order that affects
its previous judgment, it retains jurisdiction relating to matters “independent of,
supplemental to, or collateral to” that judgment. Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 108.01, subd. 1;
see Perry v. Perry, 749 N.W.2d 399, 403 (Minn. App. 2008) (concluding that the district
court had jurisdiction to consider a motion to modify a child-support order while an
appeal of that support order was pending, when the more recent order involved new facts,
did not require reconsideration of the merits of the appealed-from issue, and implicated
the district court’s ability to address changing circumstances and protect the children’s
best interests). Here, the district court’s later order, which was issued pursuant to the
parties’ stipulation, addressed the changing circumstances of respondent’s move to
Canada and the best interests of the youngest child. It did not affect the custody issue
currently on appeal, which relates only to the second-youngest child.
This court reviews custody determinations to determine whether the district court
“abused its discretion by making findings unsupported by the evidence or by improperly
12
applying the law.” In re Custody of N.A.K., 649 N.W.2d 166, 174 (Minn. 2002). The
controlling principle in a child-custody determination is the best interests of the children.
Schallinger v. Schallinger, 699 N.W.2d 15, 19 (Minn. App. 2005), review denied (Minn.
Sept. 28, 2005). In making its determination, the district court must consider all relevant
factors, including thirteen statutorily enumerated factors, see Minn. Stat. § 518.17,
subd. 1(a) (2012), as well as additional factors when the parties seek either joint legal or
physical custody, see Minn. Stat. § 518.17, subd. 2 (2012). Absent domestic abuse, a
rebuttable presumption exists that joint legal custody is in the best interests of a child. Id.When the record demonstrates that the parties “lack the ability to cooperate and
communicate, joint legal custody is not appropriate.” Wopata v. Wopata, 498 N.W.2d
478, 482 (Minn. App. 1993). The district court made findings on the best-interest and
joint-custody factors, including that the presumption of joint legal custody had been
overcome and that joint legal custody was not in the child’s best interests because the
parties were unable to work together on decisions such as education and medical care,
and it would not be detrimental for respondent to be granted sole legal custody. Based on
this record, the district court’s custody findings are not clearly erroneous, and the district
court did not abuse its discretion by granting sole physical custody of the child to
respondent.
Appellant argues that the district court adopted verbatim at least one of
respondent’s proposed findings, which is disfavored and raises the question of whether
the district court independently evaluated the parties’ testimony and evidence. Bliss v.
Bliss, 493 N.W.2d 583, 590 (Minn. App. 1992), review denied (Minn. Feb. 12, 1993).
13
But in denying appellant’s motion for a new trial, the district court found that his
assertion was “simply incorrect” and that its findings “reflect the [c]ourt’s independent
analysis of the record evidence.” Further, even the verbatim adoption of proposed
findings is not necessarily reversible error. Id. Appellant has failed to show that the
district court did not exercise its independent judgment in considering the issue of
custody, and we affirm the district court’s grant of sole legal custody of the second-
youngest child to respondent.
IV
Appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion by reiterating its order
for $500 in conduct-based attorney fees relating to the June 2011 hearing. Under Minn.
Stat. § 518.14, subd. 1 (2012), the district court may, “in its discretion,” award conduct-
based attorney fees against a party who unreasonably contributes to the length or expense
of a dissolution proceeding. See id. (listing requirements for need-based, as well as
conduct-based, attorney fees). A decision to award conduct-based attorney fees lies
“almost entirely” within the discretion of the district court and will not be reversed absent
a clear abuse of that discretion. Crosby v. Crosby, 587 N.W.2d 292, 298 (Minn. App.
1998) (quotation omitted), review denied (Minn. Feb. 18, 1999). “An award of conduct-
based fees . . . may be made regardless of the recipient’s need for fees and regardless of
the payor’s ability to contribute to a fee award.” Geske v. Marcolina, 624 N.W.2d 813,
818 (Minn. App. 2001).
Appellant maintains that the conduct-based fee award is inappropriate because he
gave permission a week before the hearing for the children to go to Canada and because
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mediation was not raised as an issue in respondent’s motion. But the district court
reasonably found that appellant’s permission was untimely given, and the record shows
that in replying to respondent’s motion, appellant addressed the issue of a mediator. The
district court made sufficient findings in support of its conduct-based fee award and did
not abuse its discretion by ordering the award.
Affirmed.
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